Sunday, May 07, 2006
Political observers say the PAP's 66.6% mandate is comfortable ground for the ruling party and the Prime Minister.

More than 1.22 million voters went to the polls, with two out of three giving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong the mandate he sought.

Political watchers on Channel NewsAsia's "Singapore Votes" programme said that it is still early to say what impact the post-65 generation of voters had on the results.

They made up some 40% of the electorate this time.

Singapore Management University's Assistant Professor Eugene Tan said: "I think the effect of the post-65 generation has been over-rated. It's something all the parties need to be mindful of in the next general election.

"We would have more voters born post-independence and there are concerns you need to address but for any party to have success, they need to embrace the broad middle ground. At the same time we have an ageing population."

Observers say the opposition parties also had a better showing this time, save for the Singapore Democratic Party which brought down the average.

The best performer was the Workers' Party, followed by the Singapore Democratic Alliance.

Dr Gillian Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said: "The Workers' Party has revitalised itself and managed to offer a large slate of 20 candidates. So did the SDA.

"With quite a diverse group of young and not so young, this bodes well for our political system that we get an opposition party that's growing slowly and taking up the challenge.

"One thing is clear - that they decided from last time round that they would work the ground early so we won't have 'fly-by-night' opposition members, candidates running for the election."

Now all eyes are on whether the Workers' Party will be offered the Non-Constituency MP seat for the next Parliament. - CNA/ir



|hooxy|| 10:06 PM|

+++

SINGAPORE: It was a decisive win for the People's Action Party (PAP) in the Singapore General Election.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who received a 66.6 percent nod from Singaporeans, thanked voters for "a very strong mandate."

While two single-seat wards remained firmly in opposition hands, the PAP stopped the opposition from winning a through a Group Representation Constituency.

Mr Lee also called on Singaporeans to close ranks and move ahead.

Make Singapore a "shining red dot," he said.

Mr Lee was speaking at the 2am post-election news conference on Sunday.

Exactly two-thirds of Singaporeans voted for the PAP, a margin better than what the Prime Minister had expected, which was 60-65 percent.

Mr Lee said this was not to be compared with 2001's 75 percent because of the spectre of terrorism and a poor economy then.

Besides that year, this is PAP's best showing since 1980 and slightly higher than 1997's.

Mr Lee said: "During these nine days of campaigning, many issues have been raised, many proposals hotly argued, many passions aroused.

"Now that the elections are over, we should come together again as one people. Our unity and cohesion has been one of Singapore's key strengths and you must continue to make it so.

"But I want also to continue to encourage open debate on issues because neither the PAP nor the government nor the opposition has all the solutions and answers to problems. But we have enormous talents in Singaporeans. And each has something important to contribute. We should tap and engage this for the good of Singapore."

The Prime Minister was flanked by 10 other party members who reflected not just a cross section of representation but also a next-generation team in place.

The conference centred very much on the future, and looked ahead to "an exciting Parliament."

Mr Wong Kan Seng said: "We have a new leadership today and in Parliament, with election of 24 of them, you'll find that this parliament will comprise 80% of new MPs elected since 1997 and that is a significant change. If you consider how other countries develop, you'll find that we have continually self renewed ourselves to stay relevant and that policy must continue."

The Deputy Prime Minister also thanked overseas Singaporeans for taking part in the election, and hoped more would do so in future elections.

As for the next general election, Prime Minister Lee said it would have to depend on what is happening in the region and the world, and the new faces would have come into their own.

Mr Lee said: "We're not sitting here wondering what's going to happen, waiting for it to happen. We are going to make things happen and the way to do that is to have a strong team who can work together to make things happen.

"In the next 5 years, they will establish themselves, they will learn the ropes, they will get the hang of it. By the next election, they will be old hands, experienced, some anchor persons, key members of the team."

This begs the next question: when will a cabinet reshuffle be announced?

The Prime Minister has earlier indicated four new faces will become office holders. - CNA/ir/ls



|hooxy|| 10:03 PM|

+++

Singapore's PAP returned to power with 66.6% of valid votes


Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has swept to a decisive victory in the 2006 General Election, winning 82 of the 84 seats. It took 45 of the 47 seats contested on Saturday, in addition to the 37 - made up of seven Group Representation Constituencies - it secured on Nomination Day after they were unopposed. It took all the seven contested GRCs - made up of 38 seats - in Ang Mo Kio, Aljunied, East Coast, Jalan Besar, Tampines, Pasir Ris-Punggol, Sembawang. The PAP also won seven of the nine single seats - Bukit Panjang, Chua Chu Kang, Joo Chiat, MacPherson, Nee Soon Central, Nee Soon East and Yio Chu Kang. The PAP obtained 66.6 percent of the total valid votes cast. Incumbent MP Low Thia Khiang of the opposition Workers' Party has again beaten PAP's Eric Low in the hotly-contested seat of Hougang which the opposition has held since 1991. Mr Low Thia Khiang won 13,987 (62.74%) of the votes against Mr Eric Low's 8,306 (37.26%). The opposition party candidate won by 5,681 (25.48%) votes. Voter turnout was 22,570. The number of spoilt votes was 277. The Hougang contest between the two men was a rematch of the 2001 General Election where WP's Low won 55% of the votes while his PAP opponent 45%. The PAP also failed to unseat the opposition member in Potong Pasir. Mr Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) retained the Potong Pasir seat after winning 8,242 (55.84%) of the votes against PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin's 6,518 (44.16%). The SDA chairman won by 1,724 (11.68%). Voter turnout was 14,946. The number of spoilt votes was 186. In the 2001 elections, Mr Chiam polled 52.4 percent of the votes to beat Mr Sitoh, winning the Potong Pasir seat by 751 votes. - CNA/de


|hooxy|| 1:18 AM|

+++