Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP) was returned to power on Sunday with a huge majority but lost a key district to the opposition, costing a senior cabinet minister his job. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thanked voters for their support as unofficial reports had the PAP winning 81 of the 87 seats, compared with its victory in 82 out of 84 seats in Singapore's last general election in 2006.
Foreign Minister George Yeo lost a hotly contested group constituency whose five seats went to the Workers' Party, forcing him out of the cabinet. A single-seat ward also went to the Workers' Party. The win in six seats may be modest by international standards but it is the best ever performance by the opposition since Singapore became independent from the Malaysian federation in 1965. The opposition's previous best result was four seats in 1991.
"It's the first time in 20 years that they have won this big," said Bridget Welsh, a political science professor at the Singapore Management University. She stressed the significance of the opposition's first ever win in a group representation constituency (GRC), a setup widely seen as favouring the ruling party but now shown to be vulnerable. "The GRCs have been a cornerstone of one-party dominance in the Singapore state, and the breaking of its GRCs is really allowing a diversity of political views in the country," Welsh said.
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