The boring action party in Singapore was won over in the parliamentary elections on Saturday and its 66-year-old unbroken rule for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who took over the power a year ago, expanded.
The election department announced that the PAP won 82 parliamentary seats after the votes ended. The party had previously won five seats, which gave 87 of a total of 97 seats. The opposition party party held its 10 seats.
Papal coordination rose to 65.6 percent, from an almost record low of 61 percent in 2020 surveys. Cheering supporters of the pap, which had ruled Singapore since 1959, gathered in stadiums and showed at celebrations.
“We are once again grateful for your strong mandate. We will honor the trust you gave us by working even more hard for you all,” said Wong in a speech before his constituency before the complete results were published.
Eugene Tan, a legal professor at Singapore Management University, said that the opposition’s failure to make further introduction after 2020 was a surprise. “The voters in Singapore played their cards near their chest. Today they stated that their confidence in a party that has been delivered over the years,” he said.
A economist trained in the United States, which is also finance minister, Wong’s calling for a resounding mandate to control the trade relationship in Singapore through economic turbulence after the tariff hiking of US President Donald Trump. The government has reduced its growth forecast and warned of a possible recession.
The 52-year-old Wong succeeded Lee Hsien Loong to become the fourth leader of the city state. Lee resigned in May 2024 after two decades, but remained in the cabinet as the senior minister.
His retirement, when Prime Minister ended a family dynasty, began his father Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first leader, who built the former colonial backwater into one of the richest nations in the world for 31 years.
The pap is viewed as a beacon of stability and prosperity, but the strict state control and the increasing cost of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world have also led to a growing accident, especially among younger voters. The expansion of the differences in income, increasingly unreachable living space, overcrowding and restrictions on freedom of speech have loosened the papal power grip.
The opposition says that a stronger presence in parliament will enable a more balanced political system and a greater accountability. But they are exposed to a tough task that is often affected by lack of resources, fragmented support and lack of unity. Critics said that gerrymanening also had an advantage for the pap.
Pritam Singh, leader of the workers’ party, admitted that it was a difficult competition and promised to continue the fight for a more balanced parliament. “The slate is wiped out clean, we will start work again tomorrow and we’ll go again,” he said.
While the workers’ party had not expanded its presence, she had consolidated her support with an increased share of voices in some areas, said the political analyst of Southeast Asia, Bridget Welsh. However, other smaller opposition parties could not make any breakthrough.
According to Welsh, voters opted for stability in terms of global volatility due to US tariffs. Wong’s more demanding leadership in the involvement of younger voters and efforts to renew dad by earning about a third of new faces also helped to swing the voices, she said.
“I call this the effect of Wong and Trump,” she said. “The question of economic uncertainty has really strengthened his mandate.”
