1968 Singaporean general election

Last updated
1968 Singaporean general election
Flag of Singapore.svg
  1963 13 April 1968 1972  

All 58 seats in Parliament
30 seats needed for a majority
Registered84,883
Turnout91.83% (Decrease2.svg 3.28pp)
 Majority party
  Mr. Lee Kuan Yew Mayoral reception 1965 (cropped).jpg
Leader Lee Kuan Yew
Party PAP
Last election46.93%, 37 seats
Seats won58
Seat changeIncrease2.svg21
Popular vote65,812
Percentage86.72%
SwingIncrease2.svg 39.79pp

Map of the results of the 1968 Singaporean general election.svg
Results by constituency

Prime Minister before election

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

Prime Minister after election

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

General elections were held in Singapore on 13 April 1968, the first as a sovereign country after its independence three years prior. [1] The People's Action Party (PAP) won in a landslide, winning all 58 seats at the time, including 44 uncontested constituencies. The PAP would end up occupying all seats in Parliament until 1981.

Contents

Background

Following the resignations of eleven MPs from Barisan Sosialis (BS, Socialist Front) and two other BS MPs leaving Singapore in protest against independence, five by-elections were held within three years but PAP were successful in winning all the seats, resulting in complete supermajority control of Parliament by the PAP.

Campaign

BS boycotted the elections on the grounds that Singapore's independence was "phoney" and several opposition parties heeded its call. The leaders of Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (formerly the local branch of the UMNO), Ahmad Haji Taff, and the Singapore Chinese Party (formerly the local branch of the MCA), Chng Boon Eng, turned up but did not file their nominations.

Three precedents were made in this election: the fewest seats (seven) contested in a general election, and the first time PAP was returned to power on nomination day and the first time it won all seats, which ended up being a recurring theme until 1984. Walkovers also became a perpetual feature in every succeeding general election until 2015.

Timeline

DateEvent
8 FebruaryDissolution of 1st Parliament
17 FebruaryNomination Day
13 AprilPolling day
6 MayOpening of 2nd Parliament

Electoral system

The 58 members of Parliament were elected in 58 single-member constituencies, an increase from 51 in the 1963 elections. The constituencies introduced or removed in the election, as well as constituencies with changes of boundaries, are shown on the table:

ConstituencyChanges
New Constituencies
Alexandra Carved out from Queenstown constituency
Bukit Ho Swee Carved out from Delta constituency
Kampong Chai Chee Carved out from Kampong Kembangan, Siglap and Tampines constituencies
Kampong Ubi Carved out from Geylang Serai constituency
Katong Carved out from Mountbatten constituency
MacPherson
Potong Pasir
Carved out from Aljunied constituency
Whampoa Carved out from Kallang constituency
Defunct Constituencies
Southern Islands Absorbed to Jurong, Pasir Panjang and Telok Blangah constituencies

Results

Singapore Parliament 1967.svg
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
People's Action Party 65,81286.72+39.7958+21
Workers' Party 3,0494.02+3.9700
Independents7,0339.27+8.1000
Total75,894100.0058+7
Valid votes75,89497.36
Invalid/blank votes2,0582.64
Total votes77,952100.00
Registered voters/turnout759,36791.83
Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections [lower-alpha 1]

By constituency

Out of the seven seats contested (all by only two candidates), three had winning margins of over 75%, with the losers forfeiting their deposit. The result for Tanjong Pagar (94% to 6%) remains the biggest winning margin and percentage obtained to date.

ConstituencyElectoratePartyCandidateVotes%
Alexandra 13,317 People's Action Party Wong Lin Ken Uncontested
Aljunied 14,472 People's Action Party Mohamad Ghazali bin IsmailUncontested
Anson 8,764 People's Action Party Perumal GovindaswamyUncontested
Bras Basah 9,718 People's Action Party Ho See BengUncontested
Bukit Ho Swee 17,735 People's Action Party Seah Mui KokUncontested
Bukit Merah 19,319 People's Action Party Lim Guan Hoo Uncontested
Bukit Panjang 17,893 People's Action Party Pathmanaban Selvadurai Uncontested
Bukit Timah 16,769 People's Action Party Chor Yeok Eng Uncontested
Cairnhill 12,287 People's Action Party Lim Kim San Uncontested
Changi 15,594 People's Action Party Sim Boon WooUncontested
Chua Chu Kang 12,879 People's Action Party Tang See ChimUncontested
Crawford 7,190 People's Action Party Low Yong NguanUncontested
Delta 17,715 People's Action Party Chan Choy Siong Uncontested
Farrer Park 10,290 People's Action Party Lee Chiaw Meng 7,82684.91
IndependentMadai Puthan Damodaran Nair1,39115.09
Geylang East 16,185 People's Action Party Ho Cheng ChoonUncontested
Geylang Serai 12,741 People's Action Party Rahmat bin Kenap9,36383.01
IndependentDarus bin Shariff1,91616.99
Geylang West 14,609 People's Action Party Yong Nyuk Lin Uncontested
Havelock 11,049 People's Action Party Lim Soo PengUncontested
Hong Lim 10,388 People's Action Party Lee Khoon Choy Uncontested
Jalan Besar 11,400 People's Action Party Chan Chee SengUncontested
Jalan Kayu 12,878 People's Action Party Hwang Soo Jin 9,58182.30
Workers' Party Sum Chong Meng2,06017.70
Joo Chiat 12,335 People's Action Party Yeoh Ghim Seng Uncontested
Jurong 11,445 People's Action Party Ho Kah Leong Uncontested
Kallang 9,309 People's Action Party Abdul Aziz bin KarimUncontested
Kampong Chai Chee 17,636 People's Action Party Sha'ari bin TadinUncontested
Kampong Glam 9,484 People's Action Party S. Rajaratnam Uncontested
Kampong Kapor 10,818 People's Action Party Lim Cheng LockUncontested
Kampong Kembangan 15,862 People's Action Party Mohamed Ariff bin SuradiUncontested
Kampong Ubi 13,434 People's Action Party Ya'acob bin Mohamed9,79781.87
IndependentTay Mook Yong2,16918.13
Katong 14,872 People's Action Party Joseph Francis De ConceicaoUncontested
Kreta Ayer 11,575 People's Action Party Goh Keng Swee Uncontested
MacPherson 13,099 People's Action Party Chua Sian Chin Uncontested
Moulmein 11,888 People's Action Party Sia Khoon Seong9,67590.56
IndependentT. T. Joseph1,0099.44
Mountbatten 12,760 People's Action Party Ng Yeow ChongUncontested
Nee Soon 12,846 People's Action Party Ong Soo Chuan10,44291.35
Workers' Party Wong Hong Toy9898.65
Pasir Panjang 12,394 People's Action Party Othman Wok Uncontested
Paya Lebar 17,573 People's Action Party Tay Boon TooUncontested
Potong Pasir 11,782 People's Action Party Sellappa RamaswamyUncontested
Punggol 12,277 People's Action Party Ng Kah TingUncontested
Queenstown 16,193 People's Action Party Jek Yeun Thong Uncontested
River Valley 10,865 People's Action Party Low Guan OnnUncontested
Rochore 12,222 People's Action Party Toh Chin Chye Uncontested
Sembawang 11,220 People's Action Party Teong Eng SiongUncontested
Sepoy Lines 11,409 People's Action Party Wee Toon BoonUncontested
Serangoon Gardens 9,454 People's Action Party Leonard Peter RodrigoUncontested
Siglap 11,627 People's Action Party Abdul Rahim Ishak Uncontested
Stamford 9,919 People's Action Party Andrew Fong Sip Chee Uncontested
Tampines 12,703 People's Action Party Phua Bah Lee Uncontested
Tanglin 13,332 People's Action Party Edmund W. Barker Uncontested
Tanjong Pagar 10,806 People's Action Party Lee Kuan Yew 9,12894.34
IndependentRengaswamy Vetrivelu5485.66
Telok Ayer 11,721 People's Action Party Ong Pang Boon Uncontested
Telok Blangah 14,785 People's Action Party N. Naidu GovindasamyUncontested
Thomson 15,911 People's Action Party Ang Nam PiauUncontested
Tiong Bahru 16,532 People's Action Party Ch'ng Jit Koon Uncontested
Toa Payoh 19,143 People's Action Party Eric Cheong Yuen CheeUncontested
Ulu Pandan 13,289 People's Action Party Lee Teck HimUncontested
Upper Serangoon 13,373 People's Action Party Sia Kah HuiUncontested
Whampoa 12,854 People's Action Party Buang bin Omar JunidUncontested
Source: ELD

Notes

  1. 674,484 of the 759,367 voters were registered in uncontested constituencies

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p254 ISBN   0-19-924959-8