The Singaporean parliamentary general elections of 2001 were held on 3 November. The People's Action Party, the incumbent ruling party, won 82 out of 84 seats in the election, including 55 walkovers. Due to the large number of uncontested seats, only 675,306 of the 2,036,923 eligible voters (33.2%) actually voted.
Background and issues[]
The ruling PAP was facing one of the toughest hurdles in its history. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong originally intended for the election to take place in 2002, but in late 2001, Singapore was saddled with the worst economic crisis since independence, after the events of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
For the first time since 1963, a formal political umbrella emerged from within the opposition. The four-party Singapore Democratic Alliance was established with Chiam See Tong as chief, consisting of the Singapore People's Party he led, which was the leader party, National Solidarity Party (NSP), PKMS and Singapore Justice Party (SJP). NSP provided the bulk of nine candidates, SPP four and PKMS providing a required minority candidate.
Former WP Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (J. B. Jeyaretnam), who lost his seat after being declared a bankrupt owing to lawsuits by PAP leaders, resigned from the party, citing disagreements with the present leadership. Sole WP MP Low Thia Khiang took over as secretary-general.
This election saw the end of four-member GRCs and a shortest campaigning period of 17 days after opening of the register of electors. A seat had been vacated in 1999 after the conviction of PAP MP Choo Wee Khiang over commercial crimes, but no by-election was held as the seat was within a GRC. Under the law, an entire electoral constituency, be it GRC or SMC, has to be vacated before a by-election is required.
Another increase of the election deposit amount this time was the most significant one in history, which almost doubled.
On nomination day, the sole WP GRC team was disqualified for filing incomplete papers in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency. Opposition parties ended up contesting only a-third of the seats, the lowest portion since 1968, which resulted in the largest number of walkovers for PAP in history.
WP's Low and SDA's Chiam retained their seats, but saw their winning margins slashed from the previous GE. With these two opposition wins, one NCMP seat was offered to and accepted by Steve Chia of SDA-NSP, who became the youngest and first ever non-WP NCMP.
Constituencies[]
| Constituency | Changes |
|---|---|
| Aljunied GRC | |
| Ang Mo Kio GRC | Upgraded from 5 members to 6 members Ang Mo Kio division absorbed into Yio Chu Kang and Teck Ghee divisions. Absorbed Cheng San and Jalan Kayu divisions from Cheng San GRC |
| East Coast GRC | Absorbed Changi-Simei portion. |
| Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC | Formed with both Bukit Panjang and Zhenghua divisions, together with Zhenghua North. |
| Hong Kah GRC | |
Electoral boundaries[]
The PAP once deleted Cheng San GRC as it seems to be a venerable threat to the Workers' Party.
| Constituency | Party | Voters |
|---|---|---|
| Aljunied GRC (Aljunied, Paya Lebar, Punggol South, Eunos, Kampong Kembangan) | People's Action Party | 125,115 |
| Ang Mo Kio GRC (Cheng San, Jalan Kayu, Kebun Baru, Teck Ghee, Yio Chu Kang, Nee Soon South) | People's Action Party | 166,664 |
| Ayer Rajah | People's Action Party | 18,475 |
| Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC (Bishan East, Bishan North, Toa Payoh East, Toa Payoh Central, Thomson) | People's Action Party | 114,621 |
| Bukit Panjang | People's Action Party | 32,350 |
| Bukit Timah | People's Action Party | 26,951 |
| Buona Vista | People's Action Party | 32,812 |
| Choa Chu Kang | People's Action Party | 24,863 |
| East Coast GRC (Bedok, Kaki Bukit, Fengshan, Kampong Chai Chee, Siglap, Changi-Simei) | People's Action Party | 144,012 |
| Hong Kah GRC (Keat Hong, Hong Kah North, Yew Tee, Nanyang, Bukit Gombak) | People's Action Party | 123,749 |
| Hougang | Workers' Party | 23,320 |
| Jalan Besar GRC (Jalan Besar, Kolam Ayer, Kampong Glam, Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, Whampoa) | People's Action Party | 100,268 |
| Joo Chiat | People's Action Party | 21,745 |
| Jurong GRC (Bukit Batok, Bukit Batok East, Jurong Central, Taman Jurong, Yuhua) | People's Action Party | 115,113 |
| MacPherson | People's Action Party | 22,010 |
| Marine Parade GRC (Marine Parade, Geylang Serai, Kampong Ubi, Mountbatten, Braddell Heights, Serangoon) | People's Action Party | 140,174 |
| Nee Soon Central | People's Action Party | 22,975 |
| Nee Soon East | People's Action Party | 28,465 |
| Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC (Pasir Ris East, Pasir Ris South, Pasir Ris West, Punggol Central, Punggol North) | People's Action Party | 134,151 |
| Potong Pasir | Singapore Democratic Alliance | 16,616 |
| Sembawang GRC (Sembawang, Nee Soon East, Chong Pang, Woodlands, Marsiling, Admiralty) | People's Action Party | 166,137 |
| Tampines GRC (Changkat, Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines Central, Tampines North) | People's Action Party | 125,432 |
| Tanjong Pagar GRC (Tanjong Pagar, Tiong Bahru, Radin Mas, Queenstown, Tanglin-Cairnhill, Moulmein) | People's Action Party | 141,150 |
| Ulu Pandan | People's Action Party | 23,332 |
| West Coast GRC (Telok Blangah, Clementi, West Coast, Pioneer, Boon Lay) | People's Action Party | 110,779 |
| Zhenghua | People's Action Party | 30,340 |
Families[]
- Ang Chee Kok's family house: Increased from 5 members to 6 members
- Timothy Mok's family house: Increased from 4 members to 5 members
Election results[]
PAP won a landslide victory and its best result since 1980. The party achieved its third highest score among the general elections it has contested, since 1959. The PAP's vote percentage of 75.3% signalled an overwhelming endorsement of the PAP to lead the nation out of the crisis that came at a time of great uncertainty over world security and the recession that came after 9/11. This was also the last time Goh Chok Tong lead the party into a general election. Template:Singapore parliamentary election, 2001
See also[]
References[]
- "Hsien Loong: Election soon". (Nov. 8, 2005). New Straits Times, p. 31.
External links[]
Template:Singaporean elections