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Singapore ruling party wins election in landslide
Singapore ruling party wins election in landslide
By Satish Cheney
Singapore (AFP) May 4, 2025

Voters have handed Singapore's long-time ruling party a landslide election victory, offering Prime Minister Lawrence Wong a clear mandate to navigate the trade-orientated Southeast Asian nation through economic upheaval sparked by looming US tariffs.

Wong's People's Action Party took all but 10 seats in the 97-seat unicameral legislature with a total of 65.57 percent of the more than 2.4 million votes cast in the wealthy island state in Saturday's polls.

"Singaporeans gave the PAP a strong mandate to govern," Wong told a news conference hours after the official results were announced.

"The results will put Singapore in a better position to face this turbulent world," he said, adding they were a "clear signal of trust, stability and confidence in your government".

Wong was facing his first major test against a rejuvenated opposition and had urged voters to offer him a strong show of support amid the global economic uncertainties brought on by US President Donald Trump's tough tariffs policy.

The PAP, which has steered the country to prosperity during its decades in power while being criticised for suppressing dissent, was always expected to easily retain a clear majority in the legislature.

Though its dominance had been increasingly challenged by a more vocal electorate over the years, the vote saw the PAP's popularity climb as compared with 2020 elections.

Popular after leading Singapore's Covid task force, Wong took over last year from his predecessor Lee Hsien Loong, the son of founding premier Lee Kuan Yew, who ruled the island state after its bitter break-up with Malaysia in 1965.

- 'Reliable' -

Wong had warned Singapore would be hit hard if Trump went ahead with the tariffs he announced -- and then paused -- for most countries, and that it needed to stay open and competitive to counter their effects.

He has also said the ructions caused could require a major restructuring of Singapore's economy.

"The intense campaigning by PM Lawrence Wong and former PM Lee Hsien Loong in the hot seats must have helped a lot and the fear of Trump's tariffs must have worried voters as well," political observer and veteran former editor P.N Balji told AFP.

At a post-vote rally attended by cheering PAP supporters wearing white and waving flags with the party's red lightning bolt symbol, one supporter said Singaporeans had voted for stability.

"The PAP is the government and most of the time, things have been going smoothly," said Arham, an 18-year-old student. "To me, the PAP is reliable."

- Controversies -

The overwhelming PAP majority has become a norm in Singapore's political landscape.

But in the run-up to the latest polls, the PAP has faced a series of controversies.

Lee Hsien Loong is locked in a bitter feud with his brother Lee Hsien Yang, who vehemently supports the opposition and who has sought political asylum in Britain.

The long-running family row centres on allegations made by Lee Hsien Yang that his brother is seeking to block the demolition of a family bungalow to capitalise on Lee Kuan Yew's legacy -- something he has denied.

Last year, former transport minister S. Iswaran was thrown in jail for graft and in 2023, the parliament speaker and a lawmaker resigned over an "inappropriate" affair.

At the same time, younger voters showed themselves to be increasingly receptive to alternative political voices.

In 2020, the country's largest opposition group, the Workers' Party (WP), made historic gains, winning 10 of the 93 seats at stake -- a significant jump from its previously held four seats.

The WP -- which has become politically slicker -- has been hoping to build on that momentum this time around with a slate of charismatic candidates, including a top lawyer.

The party pulled in massive crowds at its campaign rallies, but just like in previous elections, those big numbers failed to translate into major electoral gains.

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