Singapore elections: Ruling PAP faces competition in all 93 seats

Singapore: Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party is facing competition in all the 93 parliamentary seats going to polls in the July 10 general elections.

The nomination day on Tuesday saw a total of 192 candidates from 11 parties file papers to contest every seat in 17 group representation constituencies (GRCs) and 14 single-member constituencies (SMCs).

There are 2.65 million eligible voters in Singapore. Voting is compulsory in the country.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong-led PAP is the only party with candidates contesting for every seat.

The prime minister’s estranged brother Lee Hsien Yang, who had recently joined the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP), announced on Tuesday that he will not compete for the polls.

Both the brothers are embroiled in a bitter dispute over family property.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Lee told reporters that the PAP will fight for every vote.

“Every constituency is contested, so this is not a by-election. It’s a general election for the most important issues concerning the country at the moment of crisis,” The Straits Times quoted Lee as saying.

“And I think everybody needs to understand that, everybody must have that in mind when they assess the votes,” he said at the nomination centre at Deyi Secondary School.

The July 10 election will see Lee lead the PAP into battle for the fourth time as prime minister. In the last general election held in 2015, the PAP formed the government with 83 seats, an absolute majority.

The 2006 general election, the first led by Lee, saw the PAP get 66.6 per cent of the popular vote. The ruling party saw its vote share fall to 60.1 per cent in the 2011 election, but rebounded to secure 69.9 per cent of the vote in 2015.