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General elections are due to be held in Singapore no later than 23 November 2025 to determine the composition of the fifteenth Singaporean Parliament. The elections will be the nineteenth in Singapore since 1948 and the fourteenth since independence.
For the first time since the 2006 general election, Lee Hsien Loong will not be leading the governing People's Action Party (PAP) into this election, as he was succeeded by Lawrence Wong as Prime Minister on 15 May 2024. [2] The PAP has won at least a two-thirds supermajority of seats in every election in Singapore since independence.
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Pursuant to Article 65 of the Constitution, the maximum term of Parliament is five years from the date of its first sitting following a general election, after which it is dissolved. However, the President can dissolve Parliament at any time during the aforesaid five-year period, if advised by the Prime Minister to do so, and if the President is satisfied that, in tendering that advice, the Prime Minister commands the confidence of a majority of the Members of Parliament (MPs). [3] A general election must be held within three months after every dissolution of Parliament. [4]
Electoral Divisions (also referred to as seats in Parliament) are organised into Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) and Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). Each SMC returns one MP using the first past the post voting system, while each GRC returns four or five MPs by party block voting, at least one of whom must be from the Malay, Indian or other minority communities. A group of candidates intending to contest an 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. Elections are conducted by the Elections Department (ELD), a department under the Prime Minister's Office. [5]
The returning officer for this election is Han Kok Juan, the Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS). This will be his first election as Returning Officer, taking over from Tan Meng Dui who had served in this role in the previous general election. [6]
In a statement from the Elections Department Singapore on 15 October 2024, special arrangements at nursing homes, which was first implemented in the 2023 presidential election, will be discontinued citing logistical constraints and mixed reception itself. [7] [8]
The People's Action Party won a majority of seats in the 2020 general election in what was its toughest contest since independence, although it still won all but three electoral divisions (two GRCs and one SMC). It retained West Coast GRC in a fight against the Progress Singapore Party, though with the narrowest margin of victory among all electoral divisions; [9] the top scoring GRC was the neighbouring Jurong GRC won by the party. [10] The Workers' Party won the new Sengkang GRC and retained Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC. Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Secretary-General of the NTUC Ng Chee Meng, who had led the Sengkang PAP team, was considered the highest profile political casualty of the election. [11]
As of November 2024, [12] the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee has not yet been convened, signalling that the general election will be held in 2025 instead. [13] Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in November 2024 that the government would make an announcement when the committee is convened. [14] In a statement by the Elections Department, the register was refreshed on 19 June 2024 and had inspection opened till 2 July. [15] The latest certification for the Register of Electors was released on 21 July, announcing an electorate of 2,715,187. [16]
There has been varying speculations on when the next General Election will be held, with 2024 being the earliest possibility and all dates in 2024 are being ruled out. [17] [18] In June 2024, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong discussed about the possible dates, where he said that the calendar of high-level meetings should be kept in mind, which would indicate which dates he will be away and the dates he is present in Singapore. [19] He confirmed on 8 November 2024 that the timing of the election had not yet been decided. [14]
The general election will most likely be held some time between March to July and September to October 2025, with January and February ruled out since the last time an election took place in January was during the 1997 general election. The election is also expected to not clash with the G20 Summit that will be held on 27-28 November 2025 in South Africa. [20] Though unconfirmed, the 46th ASEAN Summit is expected to be held in April or May and the 47th ASEAN Summit, along with APEC in November [21] — in the event that the General Election does clash with any of the international events mentioned, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is expected to be represented by a senior cabinet official, as was the case in 2011. [22]
By comparison, Goh Chok Tong's first general election in August 1991 occurred nine months after Goh assumed office in November 1990, and its parliament lasted for three years; its predecessor Lee Hsien Loong's first general election in May 2006 occurred two years after Lee assumed office in August 2004, and its parliament lasted for four years. [23]
With a total of six seats vacated during the term, this parliament term had the largest vacation of seats post-independence since the inaugural parliament back in 1965, where a combined 14 seats were vacated (13 Barisan Sosialis and Ong Eng Guan of United People's Party).
Affiliation | Members with Voting Rights | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elected | Non-Constituency | As at 2020 | At Present | Change | ||
PAP | 83 | - | 83 | 79 | 4 | |
WP | 10 | - | 10 | 8 | 2 | |
PSP | - | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | |
Government majority | 71 | 69 | 2 | |||
Vacancies | 0 | 6 | 6 |
Affiliation | Member | Constituency | Date of Resignation | Reason | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
WP | Raeesah Khan | Sengkang GRC | 30 November 2021 | Made unsubstantiated allegations in Parliament on three occasions | |
PAP | Tharman Shanmugaratnam | Jurong GRC | 7 July 2023 | Resigned to contest the 2023 Singaporean presidential election | |
PAP | Cheng Li Hui | Tampines GRC | 17 July 2023 | Involved in extramarital affair | |
PAP | Tan Chuan-Jin | Marine Parade GRC | |||
WP | Leon Perera | Aljunied GRC | 19 July 2023 | Involved in extramarital affair with party member | |
PAP | S. Iswaran | West Coast GRC | 18 January 2024 | Prosecuted on multiple charges including corruption |
After the 2020 general election, the governing People's Action Party (PAP) appointed Heng Swee Keat as First Assistant Secretary-General, and next in line to succeed Lee Hsien Loong as Prime Minister during their Central Executive Committee (CEC) election, subject to the party winning a majority of seats in the next general election. [24] Four new members, including three serving ministers and Ng Chee Meng, were also co-opted into the CEC. [25]
In April 2021, Heng subsequently withdrew from and ruled himself out as the potential next prime minister, citing age and health concerns, though analysts also attributed the withdrawal to Heng's worse-than-expected result in East Coast GRC during the previous general election. [26] [27]
On 14 April 2022, Lawrence Wong was endorsed by an overwhelming majority of PAP MPs as the leader of the fourth generation (4G) of PAP leadership, placing him in line to succeed Lee as prime minister if the party wins a majority of seats in the next general election. [28] On 13 June 2022, Lawrence Wong was appointed Deputy Prime Minister. This move further cemented his standing as the successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. It was announced on 5 November 2023 that Lee would hand over the office to Wong in 2024 before the party's 70th anniversary. [29] [30] The date was confirmed as 15 May 2024 in an announcement on 15 April 2024; Lee stepped down his post and passed his premier to Wong on that day. [31] The new cabinet was also announced, with Gan Kim Yong promoted as the next-in-line Deputy Prime Minister and Lee conferred as a Senior Minister, [32] though changes to the cabinet were minor until the next election. [33]
On 7 July 2023, Tharman Shanmugaratnam resigned from all his positions in the government and as a member of the PAP in order to run for the 2023 presidential election, [34] in which he would later go on to win. [35]
On 12 July 2023, S. Iswaran was summoned to assist in an unspecified corruption investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). Upon being briefed on the investigation by the CPIB, Prime Minister Lee instructed Iswaran to go on a leave of absence with immediate effect until investigations ended, and subsequently suspending his duties as an MP; Chee Hong Tat was appointed as Acting Minister for Transport. [36] On 15 July 2023, it was revealed that Iswaran had been arrested pursuant to the investigation and was released on bail on 11 July 2023. [37] The investigation had also expanded to include billionaire businessman Ong Beng Seng, who was arrested at the same time. [38] [39] [40]
CPIB's investigations were concluded on 9 January 2024 and was handed over to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) for prosecution, according to a parliamentary reply given by Minister-in-charge of Public Service Chan Chun Sing. [41] A week later, Iswaran resigned from the Cabinet and as the MP of West Coast GRC and member of the People's Action Party (PAP), following the charges against him by the AGC. [42] In a follow-up letter the next day, he pledged to return the salary that he had received since the beginning of the CPIB investigation in July 2023 back to the government. [42] The following day, State Courts of Singapore revealed that Iswaran had been charged of 27 offences, including charges of corruption and obstruction of justice, [43] [44] becoming the first cabinet minister since Teh Cheang Wan in 1986 to be charged for corruption; the charges against Iswaran, who pleaded not guilty, thus attracted several international news outlets to report on the case. [45] [46] [47] [48] Consequently, Chee Hong Tat succeeded Iswaran as Minister for Transport, while Grace Fu succeeded him as Minister-in-charge for Trade Relations. [49] Iswaran was eventually pleaded guilty for five charges (out of the 35 known so far) on 24 September and was sentenced to a 12-month jail term on 3 October. [50] [51]
On 17 July 2023, both Cheng Li Hui and Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin simultaneously resigned from Parliament and as members of the PAP due to "propriety and personal conduct", alluding to extramarital affairs. [52] Prime Minister Lee, in response to their resignation letters, said in a statement that their resignations were "necessary" to "maintain the high standards of propriety and personal conduct which the PAP has upheld all these years." On 2 August 2023, Seah Kian Peng succeeded Tan as Speaker of Parliament. [53] [54]
In a statement by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during the Women's Wing conference on 1 September 2024, following a record high number of female MP-elects in the previous election, he sought to further promote women representation in parliament. [55] Candidates are progressively announced before the parliament term expires, which include the successors for the three (out of four) vacated seats, [56] and three new members in the opposition-held constituencies. [57]
After the 2020 general election, the Workers' Party (WP) elected the four newly elected MPs in Sengkang GRC into the Central Executive Committee (CEC). [58] Secretary-General Pritam Singh and Chairperson Sylvia Lim were re-elected to their posts unopposed. [59] Former secretary-general Low Thia Khiang, who stood down in the previous election following an injury, confirmed that he has not yet retired from politics, although he personally feels that it would be a "back step" were he to nominate himself for candidacy. [60] [61] As of the recent CEC change on 30 June 2024, Low remains listed as a party's CEC member, so were the re-elections of secretary-general Singh and chairwoman Lim; among the new members were Ang Boon Yaw, Nathaniel Koh and Tan Kong Soon, while former Hougang SMC MP Png Eng Huat stepped down in 2022, [62] and former MP of the defunct Punggol East SMC Lee Li Lian was reinstated into CEC on 30 June 2024 after a three-year absence; [63] Lee was working as a town councilor to Sengkang Town Council at the time of announcement. [64] The party plans to field more candidates and has expressed interest in contesting Jalan Besar GRC, which the party last did in 2015. [65]
Two WP seats have been vacated during the term. The first resignation occurred on 30 November 2021, after Raeesah Khan admitted to making unsubstantiated allegations in Parliament on three occasions. [66] [67] [68] Upon interviewed by the Parliament's Committee of Privileges on Ms. Raeesah Khan, Parliament referred Party Leaders Pritam Singh and Faisal Manap to the public prosecutor for potentially lying to mislead Parliament. Manap has since been advised by the police "to familiarise himself with the conduct expected of Members of Parliament". Singh has since been charged for lying to Parliament by the public prosecutor. [69] [70] The party had also expelled a former CEC and NCMP Daniel Goh in June 2023 over his Facebook posts questioning Khan's resignation and criticising the party leadership for "allowing the transgression to persist". [71] [72]
The second resignation occurred on 19 July 2023, when a viral video showing an extramarital affair between Leon Perera and president of the party's youth wing, Nicole Seah, surfaced online. [73] Both members subsequently resigned from the party afterwards.
After the 2020 general election, Assistant Secretary-General Leong Mun Wai and Vice-Chairwoman Hazel Poa were appointed Non-Constituency Members of Parliament by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. [74] A policy research team, youth, and women wings were also created as part of the reorganisation of the party. [75] As of 2024, PSP's founder Tan Cheng Bock revealed he had not retired from politics, and continued his walkabout and rallying at West Coast GRC, the ward where it was their best-performing constituency for the party; however, neither Tan nor the team revealed further details at the time until the election date draws close. [76]
The role for the party's Secretary-General had since taken over by Hazel Poa as of 20 February 2024, [77] quashing speculations of a rift within the party that Tan had been pressured by party cadres to step down in order to make way for a younger candidate, after Tan Cheng Bock relinquished the role on 3 April 2021 to Francis Yuen; [78] [79] Yuen left the role on 26 March 2023 citing work commitments. [80] NCMP Leong Mun Wai then held the role from 4 April until 20 February 2024, following complications over the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) [81] for a post about financial aid to an elderly couple living at West Coast. [82]
On 13 May 2024, Assistant Secretary-General Ang Yong Guan, who was also a medical practitioner in Ang Yong Guan Psychiatry, was found guilty of three counts of professional misconduct for departing from guidelines in prescribing various medications to a patient, leading to the patient's death in 2012. The PSP has not yet taken any disciplinary action on Ang, but respected the court's decision and discussions on his status to remain the party remain unknown as of now. [83]
Reform Party Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam removed Chairman Andy Zhu from his position of the RP's Central Executive Committee (CEC), and replaced him with Charles Yeo, alongside treasurer Noraini Yunus. The party accused Zhu and his associates, for improper procedures in the handling of the party's bank account. [84] Zhu subsequently formed its splinter party, Singapore United Party, with several former members of RP. [85] Osman Suliaman was among the members who resigned, but joined the Singapore People's Party instead. [86]
Yeo relinquished his position on 15 January 2022 over arrests relating to alleged offences of criminal breach of trust and forgery in the course of his works. [87] Yeo bailed on July 2022 and granted permission to leave Singapore to visit Vietnam for a hearing, but instead of returning to Singapore, Yeo seek asylum in the United Kingdom, [88] leading the nation to sent a request to the UK in October 2023; Yeo was arrested by the authorities on 4 November 2024. [89]
The Singapore Democratic Party had made preparations ahead of the election, and began their walkabout and campaigning around August 2023. [90] They also have announced on contesting Sembawang GRC for the first time since the 2011 election. [91] [92] The party also relocated their headquarters to WGECA Tower on 11 November 2023. [93]
Ahead of the announcement, two former MP-elects in the 1991 election died- on 30 April 2021, former chairman Ling How Doong due to pneumonia, [94] then on 4 June 2024, former Nee Soon Central SMC MP and now-NSP member Cheo Chai Chen due to oesophageal cancer. [95]
Two parliamentary groups of four existing or new parties were formed within four months in 2023, making it the first addition of a political umbrella since Singapore Democratic Alliance in 2001. In June 2023, Peoples Voice's chief Lim Tean founded the People's Alliance, along with the Reform Party, People's Power Party and Democratic Progressive Party. [96]
Four months later in October 2023, another group, the Coalition, was formed by the National Solidarity Party, Red Dot United, Singapore People's Party and Singapore United Party. [97] [98]
The Workers' Party is a major social democratic political party in Singapore and one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and the other opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP). The WP sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is currently the largest and oldest opposition party in Parliament, having contested every parliamentary election since 1959 against the dominant PAP. Since the 1991 general election, the WP has been the only political party, other than the PAP, with elected Members of Parliament (MPs).
The Singapore Democratic Party is a social liberal political party in Singapore. Having peaked at three seats after the 1991 general election, the party currently has no seats in Parliament since 1997.
Traditionally, women in Singapore played a small role in the country's political scene. Since 1984, Singapore has seen an increase in female representation as more women have run for political office. Notable female politicians include the two former ministers: former Acting Minister for Community Development Seet Ai Mee and former Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua; Minister of State Yu-Foo Yee Shoon; and Amy Khor Lean Suan, a district mayor. Several women also became nominated members of parliament, representing a range of societal interests such as women's groups and conservation groups. On 1 October 2015, Grace Fu was appointed the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth.
Subramaniam Iswaran, commonly known as S. Iswaran, is a Singaporean former politician who served as Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations between 2018 and 2024, and Minister for Transport between 2021 and 2024. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the West Coast division of West Coast GRC between 2001 and 2024.
Tan Chuan-Jin is a Singaporean former politician and brigadier-general. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), Tan served as Speaker of the Parliament between 2017 and 2023, and as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade GRC from 2011 to 2023.
Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai is a Singaporean politician, economist and former civil servant who has been serving as the fourth prime minister of Singapore since 2024 and the minister for finance since 2021. A member of the governing People's Action Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Limbang division of Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC since 2015, and previously the Boon Lay division of West Coast GRC between 2011 and 2015.
Muhamad Faisal bin Abdul Manap is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Vice-Chairman of the Workers' Party (WP) since 2016 and an advisor for Sengkang GRC since 2021. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Kaki Bukit division of Aljunied GRC since 2011.
Pritam Singh is a Singaporean politician, author, and lawyer who has been the Secretary-General of the Workers' Party since 2018, and Leader of the Opposition since 2020. A member of the Workers' Party (WP), Singh has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Eunos division of Aljunied GRC since 2011.
Ng Chee Meng is a Singaporean politician, union leader and former lieutenant-general who is a member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and has been serving as Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) since 2018.
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.
Chee Hong Tat is a Singaporean politician and former civil servant who has been serving as Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance since 2024. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Toa Payoh West–Thomson division of Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC since 2015.
Mohamed Amrin bin Mohamed Amin is a Singaporean solicitor, lawyer and politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Woodlands ward of Sembawang GRC between 2015 and 2020.
The Progress Singapore Party is an opposition political party in Singapore and is currently one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and the other opposition Workers' Party (WP).
The Sengkang Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern region of Singapore. It consists of Punggol East SMC, Sengkang West SMC and what was previously the Sengkang Central ward of the Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC. Sengkang GRC consists of four divisions: Anchorvale, Rivervale, Buangkok, and Compassvale managed by Sengkang Town Council. The current Members of Parliament are He Ting Ru, Jamus Lim and Louis Chua from the Workers' Party (WP) after the resignation of Raeesah Khan.
The 14th Parliament of Singapore is the current Parliament of Singapore. It opened on 24 August 2020. The membership was set by the 2020 Singapore General Election on 10 July 2020.
Jamus Jerome Lim Chee Wui is a Singaporean politician, economist and associate professor. A member of the Workers' Party (WP), Lim has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Anchorvale division of Sengkang GRC since 2020.
He Ting Ru is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Buangkok division of Sengkang GRC since 2020.
Raeesah Begum bte Farid Khan is a Singaporean social activist and former politician. A former member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), she was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Compassvale division of Sengkang GRC between 2020 and 2021.
Louis Chua Kheng Wee is a Singaporean politician. A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP), Chua has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Rivervale division of Sengkang GRC since 2020.
List of notable events prior to the 2020 Singaporean general election:
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