Elections in Singapore
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There are currently two types of elections in Singapore. Parliamentary and presidential elections. According to the Constitution of Singapore, general elections for Parliament must be conducted within three months of the dissolution of Parliament, which has a maximum term of five years from the first sitting of Parliament, and presidential elections are conducted every six years.
The
Parliamentary elections
From Singapore's independence in 1965, to 1981, the People's Action Party (PAP) won every single seat in every election held, forming a parliament with no elected opposition MP for almost two decades. In Singapore, opposition politicians and trade unionists were detained in prison without trial before the 1960s and early 1970s. Many such as Lim Chin Siong, Said Zahari and Lim Hock Siew were accused by the government of being involved in subversive communist struggles. Other oppositions had also rendered ineligible due to conviction, including those who went bankrupt.[1] Catherine Lim argues that a climate of fear hurts Singapore.[2][3]
In the eighties, opposition politicians began being elected in parliament with
The 1988 elections introduced the
However,
2020 general election
A general election was called on 23 June 2020,[12] with Singaporeans electing their Members of Parliament (MPs) on 10 July 2020.[13]
Workers' Party 279,922 | 11.22 | 10 | +4 | | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Progress Singapore Party | 253,996 | 10.18 | 0 | New | |||||
Singapore Democratic Party | 111,054 | 4.45 | 0 | 0 | |||||
National Solidarity Party | 93,653 | 3.75 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Peoples Voice | 59,183 | 2.37 | 0 | New | |||||
Reform Party | 54,599 | 2.19 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Singapore People's Party | 37,998 | 1.52 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Singapore Democratic Alliance | 37,237 | 1.49 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Red Dot United | 31,260 | 1.25 | 0 | New | |||||
People's Power Party | 7,489 | 0.30 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Independents | 655 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Total | 2,494,537 | 100.00 | 93 | +4 | |||||
Valid votes | 2,494,537 | 98.20 | |||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 45,822 | 1.80 | |||||||
Total votes | 2,540,359 | 100.00 | |||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 2,651,435 | 95.81 | |||||||
Source: Singapore Elections |
Presidential elections
Presidential elections have been held since 1993. Under the "Presidential Elections Act",
- Be a citizen of Singapore.[15]
- Be at least 45 years of age.[16]
- Be a registered voter.[17]
- Be a resident in Singapore at the date of their nomination for election and a resident for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than ten years prior to that date.[18]
- Not be subject to any of the following disqualifications:[19]
- (a) being and having been found or declared to be of unsound mind;
- (b) being an undischarged bankrupt;
- (c) holding an office of profit;
- (d) having been nominated for election to Parliament or the office of President or having acted as election agent to a person so nominated, failing to lodge any return of election expenses required by law within the time and in the manner so required;
- (e) having been convicted of an offence by a court of law in Singapore or Malaysia and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than S$2,000 and having not received a free pardon, provided that where the conviction is by a court of law in Malaysia, the person shall not be disqualified unless the offence is also one which, had it been committed in Singapore, would have been punishable by a court of law in Singapore;[20]
- (f) having voluntarily acquired the citizenship of, or exercised rights of citizenship in, a foreign country, or having made a declaration of allegiance to a foreign country;[21]
- (g) being disqualified under any law relating to offences in connection with elections to Parliament or the office of President by reason of having been convicted of such an offence or having in proceedings relating to such an election been proved guilty of an act constituting such an offence.
- Be a person of integrity, good character and reputation.[22]
- Not be a member of any political party on the date of nomination for election.[23]
- Have served for a at least three years in office —
- as Permanent Secretary;[24]
- as GIC Private Limited (formerly known as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation);[25]
- as the most senior executive of a company with an average of $500 million in shareholders' equity for the most recent three years in that office, and which is profitable after taxes;[26] or
- in any other similar or comparable position of seniority and responsibility in any other organisation or department of equivalent size or complexity in the public or private sector which has given him such experience and ability in administering and managing financial affairs as to enable him to carry out effectively the functions and duties of the office of President.[27]
- as
Because of the stringent requirements needed to run for presidential elections, only three out of the seven elections had contests (1993, 2011 and 2023), while the rest were
Referendums
A
Past elections
Legislative Council elections
Legislative Assembly elections
As State of Malaysia
Parliamentary elections
- 1966 by-elections (January, March & November)
- 1967 by-elections
- 1968 general election (First general election as an independent nation)
- 1970 by-elections
- 1972 general election
- 1976 general election
- 1977 by-election (May & November)
- 1979 by-elections
- 1980 general election
- 1981 Anson by-election
- 1984 general election
- 1988 general election
- 1991 general election
- 1992 Marine Parade by-election
- 1997 general election
- 2001 general election
- 2006 general election
- 2011 general election
- 2012 Hougang by-election
- 2013 Punggol East by-election
- 2015 general election
- 2016 Bukit Batok by-election
- 2020 general election
Other elections
Municipal Commission elections
|
City Council elections
|
National referendums
|
Federal & State elections for Malaysia
|
Presidential elections
|
Party election
|
Upcoming election
- Next Singaporean general election (to be held before 2025)
See also
- Electoral calendar
References
- Notes
- ^ Nair, Gopalan. "Singapore Dissident". Singapore Dissident. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ Loo, Daryl (14 December 2007). "Climate of fear hurts Singapore: author". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ Freedom House. "Freedom of the World 2011 Singapore report". Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
- Channel NewsAsia, "More detailed explanation needed to fend off gerrymandering claims: Analysts Archived 28 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine", August 3, 2015
- ^ Koh, Gillian (27 August 2013). "GRC system and politics of inclusion" (PDF). The Straits Times. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ Prime Minister's Office, Our Departments Archived 7 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ . Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ Electoral Engineering: Voting Rules and Political Behavior, Pippa Norris
- ^ "Singapore Parliament Reports - Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Bill". 26 April 2010. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ "Map of Freedom in the World: Singapore (2009)". Freedom House. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
- ^ Ong, Andrea (3 July 2013). "Ex-MP and diplomat launches book on multi-ethnic Chinese descendants in SEA". The Straits Times. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ "PM Lee calls for polls; Parliament dissolved and writ issued for General Election". TODAYonline. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "GE2020: Nomination Day on June 30; Polling Day on July 10". TODAYOnline. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ACT". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(2)(a).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(2)(b).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(2)(c) read with Art. 44(2)(c).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(2)(c) read with Art. 44(2)(d).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(2)(d) read with Art. 45.
- ^ The disqualification of a person under clauses (d) and (e) may be removed by the President and shall, if not so removed, cease at the end of five years beginning from the date on which the return mentioned in clause (d) was required to be lodged or, as the case may be, the date on which the person convicted as mentioned in clause (e) was released from custody or the date on which the fine mentioned in clause (1) (e) was imposed on such person: Constitution, Art. 45(2).
- ^ A person shall not be disqualified under this clause by reason only of anything done by him before he became a citizen of Singapore: Constitution, Art. 45(2). In clause (f), "foreign country" does not include any part of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland: Art. 45(3).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(2)(e).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(2)(f).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(3)(a).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(3)(b) read with the Fifth Schedule.
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(4), read with Art. 19(7).
- ^ Constitution, Art. 19(3)(c) and Art 19(4)(b).
- Bibliography
- Yeo, Lay Hwee (2002), "Electoral Politics in Singapore" (PDF), in Croissant, Aurel; Bruns, Gabriele; John, Marei (eds.), Electoral Politics in Southeast and East Asia, Singapore: Office for Regional Cooperation, ISBN 978-981-04-6020-4, archived from the original(PDF) on 6 March 2007.