Singapore goes to polls on July 10 in an election 'like no other'

Singapore

SINGAPORE will go to the polls on Friday July 10 - a public holiday - in a General Election (GE) that will see 93 seats in 31 constituencies up for contest, with as many as 2.65 million Singaporeans voting.

Any debate over the feasibility of holding an election in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak was put to rest on Tuesday when Singapore's 13th Parliament was dissolved and the Writ of Election was issued by President Halimah Yacob, on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In a televised broadcast on Tuesday, Mr Lee said he had met Madam Halimah earlier in the day to advise her to dissolve Parliament and issue the Writ.

Explaining his decision to hold an election at this time, when Singapore is still dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak, he noted that the April 2021 deadline to have an election was less than a year away, with no assurance that the pandemic will be over by then.

Having faced Covid-19 since the start of this year, Singapore is now in a stable position but "a long struggle lies ahead", he warned. The country must brace itself psychologically and economically for this, as well as geopolitical uncertainties.

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Holding an election now "will clear the decks, and give the new government a fresh five-year mandate", allowing it to focus on the national agenda, he said.

Before deciding to proceed, he had studied whether voters could vote safely and parties could campaign effectively amid the pandemic, and was satisfied that both were possible, he added.

Safety measures for holding elections and preliminary guidelines for political campaigning during the pandemic were released by the Elections Department earlier this month.

Noting that this GE will be very different from previous ones due to Covid-19, Madam Halimah wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday: "It is important that every care and effort be taken to ensure that our voters' safety is not compromised." She also urged Singaporeans "to have open, civil and respectful conversations with one another during this period".

The government's handling of the pandemic and the resulting economic impact are expected to be a major issues at this election. The government introduced four support packages worth nearly S$93 billion to deal with the Covid-19 crisis, which needed a draw of up to S$52 billion from the past reserves.

Mr Lee has also indicated before that he intends to step down by the time he turns 70, in 2022, with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat poised to become Singapore's fourth prime minister.

For now, all eyes turn to Nomination Day on June 30. That is the day when prospective candidates must file their papers at one of nine centres between 11am and noon.

The election deposit has been set at S$13,500 per candidate, down from S$14,500 in 2015, with payment to be made before noon on Nomination Day.

The Returning Officer for this GE is National Environment Agency chief executive officer Tan Meng Dui. The nine-day campaign period will kick off once Mr Tan issues notice of a contest, following the Nomination Day proceedings.

This time, there will not be any physical election rallies as part of the many safety precautions in place due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Campaigning will last until the cooling-off period begins, from midnight on Cooling-off Day, July 9. This cooling-off period, during which all campaigning must stop, will be observed for all of Cooling-off Day, and until the polls close on Polling Day.

As of the last update on April 15 this year, there are 2,653,942 registered electors, up from 2,460,977 in 2015.

They will be voting across 31 electoral divisions - 14 single member constituencies, up from 13 in the last election; and 17 four- and five-member Group Representation Constituencies.

For now, it remains to be seen if this would be the second election since independence with all seats being contested, following the last GE in 2015 when the ruling People's Action Party secured 69.9 per cent of the popular vote.

The PAP and opposition parties are expected to introduce their candidates in the coming days, with some parties having already started doing so. Speculation has brewed about the likely new faces in the PAP, including high-flying public servants who stepped down from their posts.

The Workers' Party, currently the only opposition party with elected MPs in Parliament, posted a Facebook video showing several new faces alongside existing MPs on Tuesday, with the caption "Coming soon".

In previous elections, opposition parties besides WP had held meetings to avoid three-cornered fights. Such a meeting has yet to be held this time, although some parties have been in talks with others. As many as 12 opposition parties could contest the upcoming GE.

In his address, Mr Lee said the GE "will be like no other" that Singapore has experienced, not just because of the special arrangements to deal with Covid-19, but because of the gravity of the situation and the issues at stake.

"The government that you elect will have critical decisions to make. These decisions will impact your lives and livelihoods, and shape Singapore for many years to come, far beyond the five-year term of the next government," he said.

"Soon, you will have the chance to decide whom to entrust with the responsibility of working with you to take our country forward. I have every confidence that you will think carefully, and vote wisely, to secure our lives, our jobs, and our future."

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For more of our Singapore GE2020 coverage, go to bt.sg/ge2020