In Singapore, elections are a curious beast to describe to outsiders. On the surface, everything looks above board. There aren\u2019t any accusations of cheating or corruption, and politicians (especially opposition ones) take care to assure citizens that their votes are secret and respected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the July 2020 general election, Singaporeans elected 10 opposition MPs, out of a total of 93 elected seats. That\u2019s the highest number of opposition MPs we\u2019ve had since independence in 1965. Given this, one might conclude that the ruling party, which has won an overwhelming supermajority in parliament time after time, is simply devastatingly popular. The reality, though, is much more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The People\u2019s Action Party (PAP) is the main player in Singaporean politics. It first came to power in 1959, after the city was granted full internal self-government by the British. It has won every subsequent election \u2013 but it hasn\u2019t always been a fair fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 1960s, its main challenger, the Barisan Sosialis \u2013 a left-wing party born out of a schism within the PAP \u2013 was greatly weakened by the government\u2019s use of internal security laws. The most notable example was Operation Coldstore<\/a>, launched in February 1963, in which more than 100 union workers, activists and politicians, including 24 key members of the Barisan, were arrested and detained without trial. This severely affected the party\u2019s leadership and organising capabilities. In 1966, after Singapore\u2019s separation from Malaysia, the Barisan decided to boycott elections, in protest at the PAP\u2019s \u2018undemocratic acts\u2019 and what it called Singapore\u2019s \u2018phoney independence\u2019. This led to a complete PAP domination of parliament, which was only broken in a by-election in 1981.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Historically, the PAP has often been left unchallenged in multiple electoral wards. The 2015 general election was the first time every seat was contested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The PAP\u2019s dominance over the Singaporean socio-political landscape has allowed it to frame issues to its own benefit. The effective outlawing of demonstrations and strikes, for instance, is widely seen as necessary in the interests of public order and the Singaporean economy. Political opponents have been demonised in the mainstream press \u2013 also under PAP influence, if not control \u2013 or bogged down by ruinous defamation suits. Many independent organisations, such as student unions, have been defanged, while trade unions have been entirely co-opted into a \u2018symbiotic relationship\u2019 with the ruling party under the umbrella of the National Trades Union Congress. A climate of fear has kept many Singaporeans away from opposition politics, activism or anything that might be perceived as \u2018anti-government\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Singapore\u2019s elections department is not an independent body but sits under the prime minister\u2019s office. The electoral boundaries of multiple constituencies shift and change before every election. The prime minister (the leader of the ruling party) appoints the electoral boundaries review committee, giving directions on the number and size of constituencies. Since 1988, new electoral boundaries have been directly approved by the prime minister\u2019s office, rather than tabled in parliament. These constant shifts \u2013 including highly contested wards or constituencies being redrawn, or absorbed by other constituencies, before the next election \u2013 have led to repeated and widespread accusations of gerrymandering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Election campaign periods are also notoriously short, usually kept to the legal minimum of nine days. Opposition parties \u2013 which tend to be under-resourced in almost every way, from finances to manpower \u2013 must therefore scramble to reach as many people as possible within a very tight timeframe. Sometimes, this is made worse by the fact that the electoral boundaries have shifted under their feet, making pre-election outreach efforts meaningless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Singaporean elections work on a first-past-the-post basis. In 1988, the PAP government introduced the group representation constituency (GRC) system, whereby political parties put up teams of candidates to contest mega-constituencies in a winner-takes-all framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ostensibly, this was to ensure minority representation in parliament: each team is required to include at least one minority candidate. Practically, however, the GRC system has made it more difficult for opposition parties to compete; some smaller parties have struggled with putting together teams or having enough resources to canvass a mega-constituency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The existence of large GRCs also means that smaller single member constituencies (SMCs) where the opposition has done well can be wiped off the electoral map completely. This happened before the 2015 general election, when Joo Chiat SMC \u2014 where the opposition Workers\u2019 Party had lost by a whisker in 2011 \u2014 was absorbed into the larger Marine Parade GRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Against this backdrop, the 2020 election<\/a> was a breakthrough for Singapore. It led to prime minister Lee Hsien Loong officially granting role of leader of the opposition to the Workers\u2019 Party leader, Pritam Singh, acknowledging that there is now a large enough contingent of opposition MPs to warrant a recognised leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The relative openness of online spaces \u2013 especially social media platforms \u2013 for political expression has partly eroded the pervasive climate of fear, normalising publicly expressed support for opposition parties. People are also more willing to volunteer for opposition parties, particularly during elections, or even put themselves forward as candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The recent results suggest that voters have begun to value political plurality in parliament. The call by the successful Workers\u2019 Party candidate, Jamus Lim, not to grant the PAP a \u2018blank cheque\u2019 appears to have resonated. The opposition seized its second GRC win (the first came in 2011), despite commentators previously predicting that a \u2018flight to safety\u2019 mentality during the pandemic would benefit the incumbent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But such shifts in the popular mindset can only push the needle so far. Even the 2020 breakthrough should have been much more significant, were it not for the pitfalls of first-past-the-post, exacerbated by the GRC system. While the PAP won only 61 per cent of votes, that translated to 89 per cent of seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Singaporean elections are free enough that their results are generally seen as representative of the people\u2019s will. But ultimately, the system remains skewed to ensure that one party continues to enjoy an unfair advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The People’s Action Party has won every election since 1959 – but it hasn’t always been a fair fight, writes Kirsten Han<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":46020,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2526,2587,279,2269],"tags":[2669],"class_list":["post-31229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-authoritarianism-far-right","category-civil-liberties","category-democracy","tag-kirsten-han"],"yoast_head":"\nWinner takes all in Singapore<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Change on the horizon?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This article first appeared in Issue #233\u00a0Democracy on the Wing<\/em>. Subscribe<\/a> today to support independent socialist media and get your copy hot off the press!<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"