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The politics of Singapore takes the form of a parliamentary representative democratic republic whereby the President of Singapore is the head of state, the Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Cabinet from the parliament, and to a lesser extent, the president. Cabinet has the general direction and control of the Government and is accountable to Parliament. There are three separate branches of government: the legislature, executive and judiciary abiding by the Westminster system.
The Workers' Party is a major centre-left political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in parliament, alongside the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP). It is currently the largest opposition party in parliament. It is also one of the oldest parties active in the country, having contested every parliamentary election since 1959. The WP is the only political party other than the ruling PAP with elected constituency MPs in parliament since 2011.
The National Solidarity Party is a political party in Singapore founded on 6 March 1987.
There are currently two types of elections in Singapore: parliamentary and presidential elections. According to the constitution of Singapore general elections for parliament must be conducted within 3 months of the dissolution of parliament, which has a maximum term of 5 years from the first sitting of parliament, and presidential elections are conducted every 6 years.
Chiam See Tong is a retired Singaporean politician who was secretary-general of the Singapore People's Party (SPP) between 1996 and 2019. He served as Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir SMC from 1984 and retained the seat throughout successive elections until 2011.
Low Thia Khiang is a retired Singaporean politician who served as the secretary-general of the Workers' Party (WP) between 2001 and 2018.
Constituencies in Singapore are electoral divisions which may be represented by single or multiple seats in the Parliament of Singapore. Constituencies are classified as either Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) or Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). SMCs are single-seat constituencies but GRCs have between four and six seats in Parliament.
A Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) is a member of an opposition political party in Singapore who, according to the Constitution and Parliamentary Elections Act, is declared to have been elected a Member of Parliament (MP) without constituency representation, despite having lost in a general election, by virtue of having been one of the best-performing losers. The number of NCMPs is 12 less the number of opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) elected. NCMPs enjoy all of the privileges of ordinary Members of Parliament.
Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs surrounding the Central Area of Singapore. It is named after Jalan Besar, a street in Singapore that forms this GRC's centrepiece. The street itself is within the Kallang planning area, Kallang itself being part of this GRC.
General elections in Singapore must be held within three months after five years have elapsed from the date of the first sitting of a particular Parliament of Singapore. However, in most cases Parliament is dissolved and a general election called at the behest of the Prime Minister before the five-year period elapses. The number of constituencies or electoral divisions is not permanently fixed by law, but is declared by the Prime Minister prior to each general election pursuant to the Parliamentary Elections Act, which governs the conduct of elections to Parliament, taking into account recommendations of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee. For the 2020 general election, there are 93 seats in Parliament organised into 14 Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) and 17 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). Each SMC returns one Member of Parliament while each GRC returns between three and six MPs, at least one of whom must be from the Malay, Indian or other minority communities. A group of persons wishing to stand for election in a GRC must all be members of the same political party, or a group of independent candidates. The voting age in Singapore is 21 years.
A group representation constituency (GRC) is a type of electoral division or constituency in Singapore in which teams of candidates, instead of individual candidates, compete to be elected into Parliament as the Members of Parliament (MPs) for the constituency. The Government stated that the GRC scheme was primarily implemented to enshrine minority representation in Parliament: at least one of the MPs in a GRC must be a member of the Malay, Indian or another minority community of Singapore. In addition, it was economical for town councils, which manage public housing estates, to handle larger constituencies.
General elections were held in Singapore on 7 May 2011. President S. R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 19 April 2011 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Voting is mandatory in Singapore and is based on the first-past-the-post system. Elections are conducted by the Elections Department, which is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s Office. Nomination day was held on 27 April 2011, and for the second election in a row, the PAP did not officially return to power on nomination day, but it did return to power on the polling day. This election also marked the first and the only three-cornered fight since 2001 in Punggol East SMC before it increased to four-cornered fight on a by-election held two years later.
Liang Eng Hwa is a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is a Member of the 14th Parliament and has been representing Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency (SMC) since 2020. He previously represented the Zhenghua ward of Holland–Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency (GRC) from 2006 to 2020.
Lina Loh Woon Lee, also known as Lina Chiam, is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Singapore People's Party (SPP), she contested in the 2011 and 2015 general elections in Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency (SMC), but lost to Sitoh Yih Pin, the candidate from the governing People's Action Party (PAP), in both elections. Her husband, Chiam See Tong, was formerly the SPP's secretary-general and had represented Potong Pasir SMC as a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 2011.
Heng Chee How is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as a Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence since 2018. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he is a Member of the 14th Parliament and has been representing the Whampoa ward of Jalan Besar GRC since 2001.
By-elections in Singapore are elections held to fill seats in the Parliament of Singapore that fall vacant in between general elections, known as casual vacancies. In the past, the Government of Singapore took the position that the Prime Minister had discretion whether or not a by-election should be called to fill a casual vacancy in a Single Member Constituency, and could leave a parliamentary seat unfilled until the next general election. However, in the case of Vellama d/o Marie Muthu v. Attorney-General (2013), which arose from a vacancy in Hougang Single Member Constituency, the Court of Appeal held that the Constitution of Singapore obliges the Prime Minister to call a by-election unless a general election is going to be held in the near future. However, a by-election need only be called within a reasonable time, and the Prime Minister has the discretion to determine when it should be held.
General elections were held in Singapore on Friday, 10 July 2020 to elect 93 members to the Parliament of Singapore across 31 constituencies. Parliament was dissolved and the general election called by President Halimah Yacob on 23 June, on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. It elected members of parliament to the 14th Parliament of Singapore since Singapore's independence in 1965, using the first-past-the-post electoral system. Voting was mandatory for all Singaporeans who were aged 21 or above as of 1 March 2020.
References
- ↑ "Singapore Elections Department - 1988 Parliamentary Election Results". www.eld.gov.sg. 18 October 2017. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ↑ Mutalib, Hussin (2002). "Constitutional-Electoral Reforms and Politics in Singapore". Legislative Studies Quarterly. 27 (4): 659–672. doi:10.2307/3598663. ISSN 0362-9805. JSTOR 3598663.
