Pre–nomination day events
New candidates
This election was expected to have a large number of new candidates as the major political parties had undergone self-renewal in recent years, many of whom belong to the post-1965 generation. PAP had introduced 24 new candidates. Opposition fielded a total of 25 new candidates, in which the two opposition parties that held a seat, the Workers' Party and the Singapore Democratic Alliance introduced 15 and eight new candidates, respectively. Singapore Democratic Party, a group which did not win any seats in the last election, fielded two new candidates. A total of 49 brand-new candidates (including 11 female candidates, seven from PAP, four from WP and one from SDP) participated in the election.
Candidates who switched parties
This election features a number of candidates who have switched political parties.
| Name | Current Party | Prior Party | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheo Chai Chen | SDA | SDP | Under the NSP party |
| Chia Ti Lik | WP | PAP | Was a former member of Young PAP, the PAP's youth wing |
| Arthero Lim Tung Hee | SDA | SDP | [1] |
| Tan Lead Shake | SDA | DPP | Under the NSP party |
| Vincent Yeo | SDA | SDP |
Politicians who are retiring
All politicians who were retiring or stepping down from their seats were from the People's Action Party.
| Name | Constituency | Current Portfolio | Date | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chay Wai Chuen | Tanjong Pagar GRC (Queenstown) | Member of Parliament | 11 April 2006 | |
| John Chen | Hong Kah GRC (Nanyang) | Former Minister of State | 3 April 2006 | Served for four terms; held portfolios for Minister of State for Communications (1997–1999) and Communications and Information Technology, and National Development (1999–2001). |
| Chew Heng Ching | East Coast GRC (Kaki Bukit) | Member of Parliament | 10 April 2006 | His ward was redrawn to Marine Parade GRC. |
| Chin Tet Yung | Sembawang GRC (Woodlands) | Member of Parliament | 10 April 2006 | Stepped down after Tony Tan do so and new ministers should not be "younger than the MP". |
| Chong Weng Chiew | Tanjong Pagar GRC (Radin Mas) | Member of Parliament | 15 April 2006 | Personal Reasons, citing financial difficulties. |
| Davinder Singh | Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Toa Payoh Central) | Member of Parliament | 14 April 2006 | |
| Andy Gan | Marine Parade GRC (Mountbatten) | Member of Parliament | 14 April 2006 | Had previously contested Potong Pasir SMC in the 1991 and 1997 elections. |
| Ahmad Khalis | Hong Kah GRC (Keat Hong) | Member of Parliament | 3 April 2006 | Served for one term; was scrapped after the disciplinary hearings before 2006. |
| Warren Lee | Sembawang GRC (Canberra) | Member of Parliament | 10 April 2006 | Initially expressed interest to run for one more term. |
| Lee Yock Suan | East Coast GRC (Changi-Simei) | Former Cabinet Minister | 10 April 2006 | Served for six terms; was an MP in the defunct Cheng San GRC until 2001; held eight Cabinet Minister portfolios (Education, Environment, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Information and the Arts, Labour, Prime Minister Office and Trade & Industry) until 2004. |
| Leong Horn Kee | Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Thomson) | Member of Parliament | 14 April 2006 | |
| David Lim Tik En | Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC (Cashew) | Former Acting Cabinet Minister | 2003 | His ward was redrawn into Holland–Bukit Timah GRC; held portfolio for acting Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts until 2003. |
| Michael Lim | Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC (Punggol South) | Member of Parliament | 13 April 2006 | |
| Loh Meng See | Jalan Besar GRC (Kampong Glam) | Member of Parliament | 10 April 2006 | Personal Reasons, citing reactions over Integrated Resort debates, as well as to devote time to Singapore Airlines. [2] |
| Low Seow Chay | Chua Chu Kang SMC | Member of Parliament | 13 April 2006 | Was replaced by Gan Kim Yong who has been transferred from the nearby Zhenghua district (Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC). |
| Mohamad Maidin Packer | Marine Parade GRC (Kampong Ubi) | Parliamentary Secretary | 14 April 2006 | Held portfolios for Parliamentary Secretary for Education (January 1997 – April 2001), Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education from (May–November 2001), Environment (2003–2004) and Home Affairs (2004–2006). |
| Othman Haron Eusofe | Marine Parade GRC (Geylang Serai) | Former Minister of State and mayor | 25 March 2006 | Held portfolios for Minister of State for Labour (1997 – March 1998), Manpower (April 1998 – November 2001), and Prime Minister's Office (August 2004 – June 2005), and Mayor of South East CDC (November 2001 – August 2004) |
| R Ravindran | Marine Parade GRC (Braddell Heights) | Member of Parliament | 15 April 2006 | Was an MP in the now-defunct Jurong ward (currently under Jurong GRC and was replaced by Taman Jurong, warded by cabinet minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam). |
| Tan Boon Wan | Ang Mo Kio GRC (Nee Soon South) | Member of Parliament | 10 April 2006 | Served for two terms. |
| Tan Cheng Bock | Ayer Rajah SMC | Member of Parliament | 10 April 2006 | Served for six terms; his ward was redrawn to West Coast GRC; would later stand in the 2011 Presidential Elections and in the 2020 general elections under the Progress Singapore Party banner. |
| Tony Tan Keng Yam | Sembawang GRC (Sembawang) | Deputy Prime Minister | 26 March 2006 | Served for six terms since 1979; held five Cabinet Minister portfolios (Defence, Education, Finance, Health and Trade & Industry), a former PAP chairman (1993–2004) and was the first co-ordinating Minister (Security and Defence, now called National Security); would later become the 7th President of Singapore (2011–2017). |
| Tan Soo Khoon | East Coast GRC (Kampong-Chai Chee) | Former Speaker | 10 April 2006 | Served for seven terms; portions of his ward was redrawn into Marine Parade GRC; was the 6th Speaker of Parliament (1989–2002). |
| Wang Kai Yuen | Bukit Timah SMC | Member of Parliament | 1 March 2006 | His ward was absorbed into the new Holland–Bukit Timah GRC (while carving out Bukit Panjang). |
| Yatiman Yusof | Tampines GRC (Tampines West) | Senior Parliamentary Secretary | 25 March 2006 | Served for five terms; held portfolios for Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Jan 1996 – Jan 1997), Information and the Arts (1997 – 2006, later renamed to Information, Communications and the Arts in 2001) |
Talks on an impending election have surfaced in earnest since mid-2005, two years before the electoral term is constitutionally expected to end in June 2007. [3] On 9 April, Goh Chok Tong had said that the election was likely to be held in the following four to six weeks. [4]
Budget day and progress package
On 17 February 2006, Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary General of the PAP delivered the country's Budget Statement to the Parliament. He released details of a S$2.6 billion on a "progress package" including S$500 million for Central Provident Fund top-ups, S$400 million for workfare bonuses, and S$200 million bonuses for national servicemen. Largely due to this package, the 2006 Budget incurred a deficit of S$2.86 billion. [5] [6]
Several PAP members attempted to play down the significance of the event. Sin Boon Ann and Halimah Yacob said it was no different from the PAP government's past practices of sharing surpluses when the economy does well. More neutral watchers, such as Gillian Koh from the Institute of Policy Studies, however, say it reflects the government's intentions to fulfil general sentiments in the electorate who feel it is the "right thing" to be done. [7]
Low Thia Khiang (WP) came out strongly against the progress package which he said was no more than a vote-winning tool by the PAP. Low questioned why the government had earlier retorted his call for more spending on education citing that it would result in a budget deficit. Low called for greater transparency on how the government intend to financing the package and to compensate for the budget shortfall. Wong Kan Seng (PAP) later dismissed claims that the progress package constitutes a form of vote buying. [8] Nonetheless, even PAP MPs such as Wang Kai Yuen (Retired MP) had said that the payout would "render the ground sweeter for the ruling party in the coming General Election". Tan Cheng Bock (Retired MP) expressed surprise that the government had more than S$13 billion in capital receipts and asked why these were "not [itemised] in the Budget". [9]
Workers' Party manifesto
Workers' Party (WP) was the first party to launch an update to its manifesto on 14 January 2006. [10] Among its policy proposals, it called for the Presidency to revert to its former ceremonial role and the abolishment of the GRCs, the Ethnic Integration Policy for Housing and Development Board flats, the Resident Committees and the Citizen Consultative Committees. It also revealed its intentions to establish a central agency in the provision of public transport, setting up of a national unemployment insurance scheme and a more comprehensive national health insurance scheme among a host of other things.
On 21 January, PAP launched a coordinated attack on the WP's proposals, with Ng Eng Hen highlighting four of their proposals as "four time bombs...[which] will weaken and tear Singapore apart". [11] Khaw Boon Wan, revealed various changes in medical policies, including the Medisave scheme, which has been a constant target for criticism by opposition parties. He also chided the WP for its "failure to understand what makes inter-racialism work in Singapore and why we are different from the rest of the world", referring the four points brought up by Ng Eng Hen as "poisons" [12] Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim released a press statement [13] on 22 January, responding to each of the four "time bombs" criticised by Ng and adding that the party was standing firmly by its manifesto. [14]
Cartoon T-shirts
During the weekend on 4–5 March, members of the Singapore People's Party were at the Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC conducting a walk-about and selling $10 white T-shirts featuring a caricature of a red ant with boxing gloves. Teo Chee Hean, incumbent MP and anchor minister of the GRC, made fun of it saying "I don't think our residents want their flats to be overrun by red ants". His fellow MP Charles Chong added: "It would be very unfair if they come with ants and you use elephants to step on them."
Desmond Lim, assistant secretary-general of the SPP responded that the red ant represented the party's never-say-die spirit: "Ants see no obstacles. If you put a stone in front of them, they will make a detour or climb over it. We are like small ants in the political scene here. But when ants come together, they can move mountains." [15]
Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC housed the Buangkok MRT station where the white elephant incident took place in August 2005 when "white elephant" signs were placed in protest of the station's non-operational status. The incident prompted the government to eventually open the station in January 2006.
By-election strategy
The last three general elections in 1991, 1997, and 2001 have seen the PAP return to power on Nomination Day as the opposition parties adopted a by-election strategy and contested less than half the number of seats in these elections. For the coming election, early indications by the opposition parties suggest that more than half the seats will be contested. In a Today report dated 6 March 2006, Low Thia Khiang (WP) said that WP does not believe in a by-election strategy and "felt that every Singaporean should have the opportunity to vote". [16]
Chiam See Tong (SPP) said that they would campaign on a by-election strategy given a chance, but he noted that the strategy has been used before and that "it may not capture the imagination of the voters as much." [17] For twenty years since 1992, there is no by-election but there are requests to do so when MPs vacated their seats (cases such as the late former president Ong Teng Cheong resigning his seat to stand as a presidential candidate in the 1993 presidential elections, the legal case of Choo Wee Khiang in 1999, and the deaths of Ong Chit Chung and Balaji Sadasivan in 2008 and 2010, respectively); but the reason is that it does not disrupts the mandate of the Parliament but the review is that SMCs will be extended from 9 to 12 in 2011, followed by 13 in 2015. Eventually, the next by-election would not occur until the Hougang's by-election in May 2012, six years later.
Chee Soon Juan's bankruptcy
On 10 February, Chee Soon Juan (SDP) had been declared a bankrupt by the High Court, after failing to pay S$500,000 in damages awarded to Goh and Lee. Per the bankruptcy order, Chee was barred from standing for elections until February 2011. [18] Chee is already ineligible for this election because of a fine in 2002.
Jeyaretnam's potential comeback
Opposition veteran J B Jeyaretnam, former MP and secretary-general of WP, had planned to make a comeback by paying off his bankruptcy to contest the election. [19] He told Lianhe Zaobao that he had identified some potential candidates with whom he might form a team to contest a GRC. Steve Chia welcomed this development and expressed his hope that Jeyaretnam will challenge either Lee Kuan Yew or Goh Chok Tong to keep the "big guns" busy in their own constituencies and have less time to campaign for weaker PAP candidates in other electoral divisions. However, legal troubles surrounding him deny any chances of Jeyaretnam, as the earliest he would have been discharged was in mid-June. He was not found to be contesting any SMC or GRC on the Nomination Day, and thus he was not involved in this election as a candidate.
Goh Chok Tong's special assignment
On 19 March, Lee Hsien Loong said that PAP is aiming to win all the constituencies and is serious about taking over the two opposition wards in Hougang SMC and Potong Pasir SMC, saying that "We want to win, this is not masak-masak [a Malay term meaning a child's game]". The PAP candidates for these two wards will be Eric Low and Sitoh Yih Pin respectively. Both lost in the previous elections but had been working the ground in these wards since. They were assisted by Goh Chok Tong who had been given the special assignment to help the PAP win the two wards. [20]
Goh had suggested that if Eric Low and Sitoh Yih Pin won the election, they would be given extra latitude when speaking and voting in parliament and not be subjected to the political Whip. Goh also said that he would help Sitoh to gain a post in the new Cabinet should Sitoh be elected. [21] Hougang and Potong Pasir residents were also promised upgrades $100 and $80 million if PAP manages to retake both seats. Both of these constituencies have been denied the chance to upgrade their estates as well as to provide lifts that stop on every floor, for as long as they are in opposition hands. When the PAP shaved WP's vote share from 58% to 55% in the last election, then Prime Minister Goh had offered to upgrade Hougang estate if the WP's chief's share of vote was reduced to 52%.
As of the recent 2020 election, while Hougang has proved to be the most difficult opposition ward to reclaim, Potong Pasir has successfully returned to PAP fold in 2011 despite winning by an inferior margin of 0.72%, and would hold for another term when PAP improved their margin to 32.82% in the 2015 elections.
Nomination forms
As of 21 April, the day following the issue of the writ of election, 39 nomination forms were collected from the Elections Department office at Prinsep Street in which 20 were for Single-seat constituencies and the remaining 19 for Group Representative Constituencies. These included 18 applications to the Malay Community Committee and 13 for the Indian and other minority committee. The Elections Department has also received five donation reports and declaration forms. [22]
Remarks in The New Democrat
In April 2006, the SDP published an article headlined "Govt's role in the NKF scandal" in the SDP party newspaper, The New Democrat, about the National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal. On 22 April, letters of demand were served on twelve individuals and the publisher. Drew and Napier, the law firm acting for Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Kuan Yew, says that the newspaper article alleges that the two Lees are "dishonest and unfit for office", that Lee Kuan Yew "devised a corrupt political system for the benefit of the political elite", and that he managed the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation in a "corrupt manner". In addition, according to the letter of demand, the newspaper also alleged that Lee Hsien Loong had "perpetuated a corrupt political system for the benefit of the political elite" and how he and his Government "had access to the information which has now been unearthed about NKF but corruptly concealed and covered up the facts to avoid criticism". [23] The letters demand that damages be paid and an apology made in the media by 25 April. [24]
On 22 April, the lawyer acting for the Central Executive Committee of the SDP had said that he was instructed to defend the case vigorously. [25]
As of 27 April, four of SDP's eleven committee members had publicly apologised, while the chairman of the party had refused to apologise as it would constitute "an admission of guilt". An apology has been formally rejected by the party, though it would not oppose individual members from making personal apologies. M Ravi, the lawyer representing most of the accused, has rejected claims made in the letters that allegations made in the paper were "highly defamatory", and he "[does] not see how a government or public body could be defamed". On 27 April, Chee said that the threat of legal action is already seriously affecting SDP's campaign at Sembawang GRC: "Lawyers for Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Lee Hsien Loong have gone as far as to sue the printer, so much so that he is so frightened he dares not publish our election material." [26] SDP was still seen selling the publication, and the Lees are seeking aggravated damages. [27] [28]
After the Polling Day, a meeting on the defamation suit was called by Francis Yong, vice-chairman of the SDP, in the SDP headquarters. At that time the Chee siblings had yet to make an apology, the meeting was to persuade the siblings to do so, but was unsuccessful. Lawrence Lai, a member of the Centre Executive Committee, walked out after an hour of the meeting, while others declined to comment.
SDP podcast
On 25 April, Elections Department warned SDP that it would take action against the party if they did not take down the audio files and podcasts from the party's website as it is against election advertising regulations under the Parliamentary Elections Act. Within hours after the notice was issued, SDP posted a notice on its website that the podcast service was suspended. Nonetheless, as of 29 April, a podcast of an interview with J B Jeyaretnam was still accessible on the website server, although there is no hyperlink to it.
Remarks on "First World Government"
Several politicians are engaging in exchanges surrounding the phrase "First World". It started with Lee Kuan Yew (PAP) who said "We want to have a First World parliament for Singapore, so we need to have a First World government and a First World opposition. If you want us to treat you as gentlemen, argue on the merits of your policy and our policy. Take it to a higher level and we will treat you accordingly and respond accordingly."
On 24 April, Low Thia Khiang (WP) responded saying that the PAP was not a "First World" government, and rather that instead the Workers' Party was the hope for a "First World" government.
Lee then rebutted on 25 April that if the PAP did not have the capabilities of a "First World" government, Singapore would not have risen up to the First World standards as measured by several world bodies. He added that "The WP under Low Thia Khiang must take this opportunity, having got rid of Jeyaratnam, to begin the process of getting the WP to First World standards."
James Gomez (WP) joined in the fray on 28 April, saying "Singaporeans and Singapore are "First World". There is no doubt in my mind, but it does not mean that the government and the PAP are "First World." Don't claim credit. Singaporeans and Singapore are First World, and this is the message I want to leave with you today. You are "First World", Singapore is First World but the PAP government is not."
In a news release posted at WP's website on 29 April, Low reiterated that PAP was not a "First World" government and took the opportunity to raise the issue of ministerial pay. He criticised the PAP for not "bench-marking itself politically against the matured Democracies around the world although ministers' salaries are bench-marked against international corporate's standards."
Other pre–nomination day events
On 14 January, Workers' Party Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang revealed that the party was planning to contest in four GRCs (Ang Mo Kio, Aljunied, Sembawang, and East Coast) and in three SMCs (Nee Soon East, Joo Chiat, and Hougang). [29] Four days later, the Singapore Democratic Alliance had announced its intention to field candidates in three GRCs (Tampines, Jalan Besar and Pasir Ris–Punggol) and five SMCs (Potong Pasir, Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Timah, Ayer Rajah and MacPherson). [30] Sin Kek Tong, Chairman of SPP, will contest in MacPherson SMC.
On 3 March, Steve Chia, Secretary-General of National Solidarity Party (NSP) had said that the party planned to contest Chua Chu Kang SMC, Bukit Panjang SMC, and Yio Chu Kang SMC. NSP will also attempt to field a team to contest Jalan Besar GRC. [31] Following the release of the electoral boundaries, Chia expressed disappointment that there were no three-seat or four-seat GRCs that he had suggested in a parliament session. He told The New Paper : "The PAP still wants its MPs to hide behind GRCs. I'm not surprised. I'm disappointed." [32] Chia was expected to contest in Choa Chu Kang SMC again. To help fund his election campaign, Chia launched a book which documented the speeches he made in Parliament over the last four years. [33] Yip Yew Weng, President of NSP, will contest in Yio Chu Kang SMC.
Lianhe Zaobao reported that Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was planning to contest Jurong GRC, Bukit Panjang SMC and Nee Soon Central SMC. SDP's chairman Ling How Doong had then been expected to contest in Bukit Panjang SMC. Christopher Neo Ting Wei, SDP's Assistant Treasurer, led a team to contest in Jurong GRC; among his team members were Chee Siok Chin, a member of SDP's Central Executive Committee (CEC) and sister of Chee Soon Juan.
On 4 March, Lim Boon Heng, Chairman of PAP, said that at least a quarter of the party's candidates would be new faces. [34] The PAP had also not finalised their candidates list at this point. Lim Hwee Hua (PAP), MP for Marine Parade GRC for the Serangoon Gardens district, ended up contesting in the Aljunied GRC due to changes made in the electoral boundaries; the ward eventually faced a rare contest possibility that would involve three female politicians: including Cynthia Phua (PAP) and Sylvia Lim (WP).
On 6 March, Today reported that three people have recently left Singapore Democratic Party, including Cheo Chai Chen who was a member of parliament for Nee Soon Central from 1991 to 1997. [35] Yip Yew Weng, President of NSP, said that they have joined his party.
Chiam See Tong (SPP) announced on 9 March that he would seek his sixth term as MP for Potong Pasir SMC, and denied earlier speculations that he would retire or lead a team to contest a GRC. Chiam however had noted that it was important for the opposition to capture at least one constituency, explaining that "the psychological effect will be tremendous. If one stronghold is toppled, the rest may just follow like falling dominoes." [17] Chiam is expected to face another rematch from the PAP candidate Sitoh Yih Pin on his ward at Potong Pasir.
Ooi Boon Ewe, a property executive who contested in Joo Chiat SMC in 2001 as an independent, had said that he is forming a new political party and that he would contest in either Joo Chiat, Yio Chu Kang, or Chua Chu Kang SMC. His party would later become People's Liberal Democratic Party, but his party was approved after the nomination day (2 May), making him unable to contest.
