2015 Singaporean general election

Background

The maximum term of a Singaporean parliament is five years, within which it must be dissolved by the President and elections held within three months, as stated in the Constitution. As like the previous elections since 1959, voting is compulsory and results are 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.

During the previous general election in 2011, the governing People's Action Party (PAP) had secured their 13th consecutive term in office since 1959. This was the PAP's third election with Lee Hsien Loong as its Secretary-General, and the country's first election after the death of its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Prior to the election, some analysts suggested that an early election to garner "sympathy votes" might backfire. It was also the country's first election where there were no walkovers in any of the constituencies, as voting took place in Tanjong Pagar GRC for the first time.

The Returning Officer for this election was the chief executive director of the Energy Market Authority, Ng Wai Choong, taking over from Yam Ah Mee who had served in this role in the previous general election. He was also the first returning officer with a different announcement format on the results, with valid votes and rejected votes revealed as opposed to rejected votes and turnout in the past elections.

Political parties

Main article: List of political parties in Singapore

The governing People's Action Party (PAP) has been in power since 1959 and is currently led by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The leading Opposition party is The Worker's Party, led by Low Thia Khiang, with seven elected seats and two NCMP seats. The Singapore People's Party led by Chiam See Tong has one NCMP seat. A total of eight Opposition parties challenged the ruling party in this election.

Electoral divisions

Main article: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (2015–20)

The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee is convened before every general election to review electoral boundaries in view of population growth and shifts. The committee is appointed by the prime minister. http://graphics.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/Interactives/singapore-general-election/maps/index.html

The electoral boundaries were published on 24 July 2015, with about one-fifth of the existing electorate having redistricted to new constituencies, and the number of seats increased to 89, up from 87 in the last election. Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC's boundaries were changed for the first time ever since the formation in 1997, while Moulmein-Kallang GRC, which was created in the last election to take its place with Jalan Besar GRC, was removed. The election also saw the introduction of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC due to the population growth in northern Singapore, specifically Woodlands and Yew Tee. Only two GRCs located in the North East CDC (Aljunied and Tampines) were untouched. The number of GRCs this election was 16, an increase by one from the last election.

In the SMCs, three constituencies (Bukit Batok, Fengshan and MacPherson) had reappeared from the political map for the first time since their last presence in 1991, 1988 and 2006, respectively. Only two of the SMCs (Hong Kah North and Sengkang West) had changes in the boundaries, while two former SMCs (Joo Chiat and Whampoa) were subsumed to their neighbouring GRCs. The number of SMCs this election was 13, an increase by one from the last election.

The changes of the GRCs boundaries (and any SMCs, if applicable), were as follows:

Political developments

Following the preceding election, a presidential election was held three months after the parliamentary election. Former Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan narrowly won the election by a plurality against three other candidates, with Tan Cheng Bock, who would form the Progress Singapore Party in 2019, finishing second. Observers seen that the both elections in 2011 were "watershed" due to the divide between the ruling People's Action Party and the oppositions.

In the aftermath of the general election, both Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong stepped down from the cabinet and become backbenchers citing renewal process, with the latter being conferred as "emeritus"; as a result the Senior Minister post would be vacant until 2019. The four incumbents from the former PAP team for Aljunied GRC, including former Foreign Minister George Yeo and cabinet minister Lim Hwee Hua, subsequently retired from politics, and the former also declined to contest in that year's presidential election. Ong Ye Kung, a new fifth candidate who was also part of their PAP's Aljunied GRC team, was fielded instead to Sembawang GRC; Ang Mo Kio GRC incumbent Yeo Guat Kwang (whose ward was redrawn from Aljunied in 2011) replaced Ong as their lead.

Towards the end of the term, founding Prime Minister of Singapore and member-of-parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC Lee Kuan Yew died of pneumonia on 23 March 2015, about 60 years after serving the constituency.

Opposition and extraparliamentary parties

Opposition parties had also seen several renewals, including Singapore Democratic Party where secretary-general Chee Soon Juan was formally discharged from bankruptcy by the court on 22 November 2012, rendering him eligible again to stand for elections for the first time since 2001. Former SDP members Tan Jee Say and Ang Yong Guan formed its new Singaporeans First party in May 2014.

The other party besides the leading opposition party of Workers' Party to represent in the 12th Parliament was Singapore People's Party, which consist of only Lina Loh as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament. Secretary-general and Loh's spouse, Chiam See Tong, announced that he would not contest the election for the first time since his debut in 1976, citing health reasons. The party was further strengthened by Democratic Progressive Party with Mohamad Hamim bin Aliyas and Benjamin Pwee resigning from the latter party to join the former. This marked DPP's first electoral contest since 2001 after DPP became active again in December 2012 following a 10-year hiatus.

National Solidarity Party secretary-general Goh Meng Seng subsequently resigned from the party after the election, and formed its new People's Power Party early in 2015, with applications approved on July, nearly two months before the election. NSP had also met with several party changes including the introduction of Lim Tean who would later found Peoples Voice; while former NSP members such as Hazel Poa, Nicole Seah and Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss have left the party ahead of the election, and former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Steve Chia did not stand for the election in response to the party's controversial decision to contest MacPherson SMC (the party reversed their initial decision to not contest the ward on 19 August) and online abuse (former MP Cheo Chai Chen would eventually contest the seat instead). Cheo was further criticized during campaigning on 3 September through a Facebook post citing PAP candidate Tin Pei Ling's role as a mother (who she gave birth to her first child on 5 August) as a weakness and later claimed as a joke.

Events in Singapore

The parliament had responded to the signals of the electorate and tweaked its policies to cool escalating housing prices, enhance transport services, reward the nation's elderly pioneers and impose a significant cut to the salaries of certain office-holders. 2013 had also met with several incidents, most notably the 2013 Southeast Asian haze, the Population White Paper, the 2013 Little India riots, and controversies surrounding Aljunied-Hougang Town Council. 2014 also saw certain policy changes and certain debates addressing concerns for immigration, Central Provident Fund and retirement, its LGBT rights in Singapore, and its impact in its culture after three books are pulled from its shelves and destroyed according to National Library Board. All of these events became general topics that were discussed during the hustings.

By-elections in Singapore

A series of two by-elections within eight months were held during the term, marking it the first occurrence of such since 1992, with both involving a member-of-parliament vacating a SMC in 2012 pertaining to extramarital affairs. On February 14, Hougang SMC MP Yaw Shin Leong was also expelled from the Workers' Party following the party's CEC decision to expel him on misconduct. Ten months later on December 12, Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore Michael Palmer resigned from all the posts and the party, and the MP for Punggol East SMC.

In both of the ensuing by-elections, the WP candidates, Png Eng Huat and Lee Li Lian, respectively won both the May and January by-elections, the latter also resulted in the first time since the 1981 Anson by-election where PAP lost a seat during the term. In a follow-up statement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, he respected the results for both by-elections and encouraged alternative voices, as the by-election is meant to find a replacement of an MP in a constituency and not government.

Following the success of both by-elections, WP announced that both Lee and Png, alongside the entire Aljunied GRC team, would remain in their respective constituencies this election.

Battleground constituencies

As with preceding elections, many media outlets named the following constituencies as its "hotspots" for the election:

• Fights against WP had Aljunied GRC (the first GRC to be won by an opposition party), East Coast GRC, Fengshan SMC (Fengshan being part of East Coast, in which it was narrowly lost in the last election; their 2011 team also consist of NCMP Gerald Giam and eventual Hougang SMC MP Png Eng Huat), MacPherson SMC (three-cornered contest between WP and NSP), Marine Parade GRC (due to the incorporation of Joo Chiat SMC, which was narrowly defeated in the last election) and Punggol East SMC (the ward won by WP in the 2013 by-election);
• Fights against SPP had Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and Potong Pasir SMC, the latter saw PAP winning back the ward for the first time in 26 years by a narrow winning margin under 1% resulting in Lina Loh winning an NCMP seat;
• Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, which was contested by SDP's A-team led by Chee Soon Juan and Paul Tambyah;
• Tampines GRC, which again contested by NSP's A-team led by Lim Tean;
• Tanjong Pagar GRC was also noted for being a hotspot as it was their first-ever contest since the ward was formed in 1991, and their incumbent PAP do not have Lee Kuan Yew; their opposing team was led by SingFirst Secretary-General Tan Jee Say (also a 2011 Presidential candidate).

Other constitution changes

Election Department raised the cap for their election expenses to S$4 per voter in a constituency divided by number of seats, up from S$3.50 previously. The ballot paper will also be printed to include passport photographs of candidates for better identification; these changes were first enacted on the 2011 Presidential election. ELD also published a 67-page handbook, advising candidates against "negative campaigning practices", and drones are banned in rallies.

While the campaign and election were held during the seventh lunar month, Singapore Police Force issued a notice whereas political activities must be separate from Getai activities.

In an election's first, sample counts were released by the Elections Department to prevent speculation and misinformation from unofficial sources while counting is underway. All sample counts were released at 10PM, about two hours after polling ended. With the exception of Aljunied and Punggol East, where counts were within a 4% error margin at a 95% confidence rate, all other figures showed that PAP had comfortable leads in 26 electoral divisions, while WP led in one electoral division. The final percentage showed an accuracy range between 0.06% (Tampines GRC) and 2.99% (MacPherson SMC). Sample counts works differently to exit polls, where they are illegal under the Parliamentary Elections Act due to privacy concerns, as it was last occurred during the 2013 Punggol East by-election where an exit poll was attempted.

Timeline

Pre-nomination day events

Main article: Pre-election day events of the 2015 Singaporean general election#Pre-nomination day

Nomination centres

The Elections Department issued the following information upon the issuance of the writ of election

• Date: 1 September 2015
• Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m.
• Returning Officer: Ng Wai Choong
• Election Deposit: S$14,500 (down from S$16,000 in 2011)

• A M indicates a GRC requires a Malay/Muslim minority candidate, while IO indicates a GRC requires an Indian or other minority candidate

Nomination day and campaigning events

Main article: Pre-election day events of the 2015 Singaporean general election#Nomination day and campaigning events

Campaigning began from 1 September and ended on 9 September to canvass votes through physical rallies and stream on various media platforms. A live debate was held on 1 September in English and Chinese channel platforms, followed by two party political broadcasts airing on 3 and 10 September. The eve of polling day, known as cooling-off day, prohibits party from campaigning except for party political broadcasts.

Outgoing incumbents and incoming candidates

Main article: Pre-election day events of the 2015 Singaporean general election#New candidates/Outgoing MPs

A total of 72 candidates made their political debut this election, among which the PAP team include a former Second Permanent Secretary, a former MediaCorp television personality, a former police assistant commissioner, a founder of an organisation focusing animal welfare, and a former Chief of Defence Force. 14 MPs from the 12th Parliament stepped down this election, and one MP died during the term in office on 23 March this year, which is former Minister Mentor and first Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, who served the Tanjong Pagar division for a record 60 years, the longest tenure for any elected MPs; in turn, this was also the first election where none of the MPs from the original Parliament represented this election.

Results

After polls closed at 8pm, vote counting began. Results were announced by Ng Wai Choong, chief executive director of the Energy Market Authority, who served as the Returning Officer for the election.

Contrary to expectations of a tougher contest as there are no walkovers this election, PAP had one of its best results since 2001, increasing their vote share by a tenth to 69.86%. Many of the constituencies had swings towards the PAP, with the biggest swing being the Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC, with 16.66% followed by Potong Pasir SMC with 16.05%. The best-performing constituency for the PAP in the election was Jurong GRC, where it received 79.28% of the vote; it was also the first election where a GRC was the best-performing constituency as the top scorers in past elections were all SMCs. The WP had their vote shares greatly reduced, and while they are able to retain Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC, they lost Punggol East SMC after gaining it in a 2013-by-election.

A poll held by the Institute of Policy Studies among 2,000 voters found that 79 percent believed "The whole election system is fair to all political parties,” up from 61 percent in 2011.

Voter turnout for the election was 93.7%, with 2,307,746 votes cast. Three candidates, Cheo Chai Chen from the NSP, and independent candidates Han Hui Hui and Samir Salim Neji, had their $14,500 election deposits forfeited. Samir's vote share of 0.60% of the vote, or 150 votes, set a record for the worst result in any general election (not counting SDA's Desmond Lim's 0.57% share in a 2013 by-election), surpassing the previous record in 1984 of Teo Kim Hoe's 0.81%. However, his record would later be broken in the 2025 general election, when the NSP team for Tampines GRC won 0.18%.

By constituency

Analysis

• Constituencies with no comparison to 2011 were either due to them being new constituencies or the constituencies experiencing walkovers in the last election, unless otherwise stated.

Top 10 PAP performers

Top 10 opposition performers

Top 10 PAP Vote Swings

• Only the following constituencies may be compared with 2011 results as they existed in both elections, although most had changes in their electoral boundaries.

Top 10 opposition party swings

• The list will contain only the opposition parties that have challenged the same constituency in the 2015 election, and may be compared with 2015 results as they existed in both elections, although most had changes in their electoral boundaries.

Sample count accuracies

• Vote counts below are for votes cast in Singapore only and exclude votes cast overseas.

Post-election

PAP's response and government

In their post-election conference by Lee Hsien Loong, Lee told that the results are an endorsement and was "deeply humbled" on a strong mandate, with younger voters called it as an "important conclusion" from the polls. Lee also added that the election is a showing of "a strong signal of confidence" after his father Kuan Yew's death, and vowed to make a strong government announcing the cabinet reshuffle at due course. Lee also vowed to wrestle back Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC at the next election, while also supported diverse voices as well. Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, being aware about the nationwide swing and his ward being the best-performing ward this election, felt that it did not read any fine differences due to an overlap between opposition proposals and PAP policies, but he also told that it "basically it's the same agenda".

Two weeks after the election concluded, Lee announced that two existing MPs and five fresh MPs were included in his fourth Cabinet. They were Parliamentary secretaries Amrin Amin and Baey Yam Keng, Ministers of State Chee Hong Tat, Janil Puthucheary and Koh Poh Koon, and acting Education ministers Ng Chee Meng and Ong Ye Kung. It was also announced that two Coordinating Minister portfolios, for a total of three, will also be included, which were Transport minister Khaw Boon Wan (for Infrastructure) and Deputy Prime Ministers Teo Chee Hean (for National Security) and Tharman Shanmugaratnam (for Economic and Social Policies). Six existing minister's portfolios are also reassigned, with the most notable being Heng Swee Keat who now assumed the role of Finance. Lee Yi Shyan was the only office holder to step down from the office and returned to a backbencher. The cabinet was sworn on 1 October, and the 13th Parliament commenced on 15 January the following year.

WP's response

Workers' Party's leader Low Thia Khiang stated on media at Hougang Stadium that they have "withstand" the nationwide swing and acknowledged the defeat of Punggol East SMC and those other constituencies they contested, and Low reminded the PAP government to "build trust" and "act fairly" to every Singaporeans. Punggol East SMC MP Lee Li Lian replied to media that she was "humbled" about her two-year experience as an MP and thanked their supporters and volunteers. Hougang SMC MP Png Eng Huat, who was re-elected for another term, while pledged that he would continue to serve his residents and represent in Parliament, he however disagreed that the vote swing may have been attributed to the ongoing Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council funding scandals, which began in 2012. In the following morning, chairwoman Sylvia Lim suggested that their swing either may have been attributed to PAP's strong mandate and concerned that the voters would felt that the government might be "dislodged" due to the opposition, or the competition where every seats are being contested which she described it as a "pushback".

ELD acknowledged that a recount saw WP won three out of five divisions of Aljunied GRC by about thousands of votes; the other two divisions, Paya Lebar's Murali Pillai (who would later elect in Bukit Batok SMC eight months later) and Serangoon's Yeo Guat Kwang, were voted in favour to PAP by hundreds of votes. Following the election, Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council was renamed back to Aljunied-Hougang.

Under the current constitution, there are a minimum nine opposition members to serve in the upcoming Parliament (which was later raised to 12 when the Parliament opens and the amendment was made on 27 January 2016), and while WP managed to elect six MPs, WP gained an additional three seats of Non-constituency Member of Parliament, with the best losers given to Lee, Fengshan SMC's Dennis Tan, and one seat for East Coast GRC, given to Leon Perera. On 16 September 2015, Lee declined the position, making her the first candidate since 1984 to formally do so, while Tan and Perera took up. On 18 January 2016, WP filled a motion to allow Daniel Goh to take her place as NCMP. The motion was passed by the legislature, and Goh was later sworn in on 5 February 2016. With these allocation, the 13th Parliament marked the first time since 1986 where there are only two parties represented the Parliament; it also marked the end of the presence of Singapore People's Party since their debut in 1997 and the presence of the Chiam's family since 1984.

Responding to Charles Chong's allegations of missing town council funds, Png Eng Huat, vice-chairman of the AHTC, asked Chong about the missing money. Png said that Chong replied that he had explained but there was no explanation given. In February 2018, Png in a Facebook post, said Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC which had managed Punggol East SMC from 2013 to 2015) had resolved all its accounting lapses and $22.8 million to $26.3 million attributed to Punggol East is in its every financial statement since 2013. Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council also had an unqualified financial statement for the 2016/2017 financial year which "means there was no such missing money else the accounts would be qualified". While interviewed by The Straits Times, Chong said the AHTC's financial statements were all qualified by their own auditors and questioned about an ongoing court case by AHTC against its town councillors.

By 11 October 2019, towards the end of the term, the High Court of Singapore found WP members and town councillors, and FMSS, guilty for breaching their duties and were liable for damages, citing that their leaders had "put political interests above that" of AHTC and residents; and on 5 November, they had since lodged a successful appeal and were awarded costs for their appeals in 2023.

Other opposition responses

While Singapore Democratic Party was among the first parties to launch their campaigns dating back in January with alternative policies, their party's refreshed image, and the return of Chee Soon Juan, their party still unable to win any seats since their last win dated back in 1991. Chee told on their media after the election cited that their party came from a "deep trough" and told they have seen a "good trajectory" given they have taken advantage on using internet and social media. Chee also noted that their task ahead is not just winning the voter's hearts and minds but encouraged open policies as well. In another interview on 13 September, Chee raised his possibility on working with WP in the future. Likewise, Reform Party's chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam respected the outcome, added that the voters "got the government they deserve" and reminded he will not "want to hear any more complaints".

Overseas votes

Overseas votes were counted on 15 September, four days after the elections. ELD announced that the turnout was 3,415 (out of 4,868), and 52 votes have been rejected overall. All but two of the constituencies had voted in line with PAP-winning candidates (there were 2,399 votes), except for Aljunied GRC (which WP won the overseas vote) and Hougang SMC (which PAP won the overseas vote despite its loss), and the final popular vote for the PAP was untouched at 69.86%. All but 11 constituencies had a final percentage adjusted by no more than 0.04%, with the exceptions being Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Bukit Panjang SMC, East Coast GRC, Hong Kah North SMC, Marine Parade GRC, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Nee Soon GRC, Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, Sembawang GRC, Tanjong Pagar GRC and West Coast GRC, and one candidate for each of the three-cornered contests (Independent candidate Samir Salim Neji in Bukit Batok SMC, NSP's Cheo Chai Chen in MacPherson SMC, and PAP's Sam Tan in Radin Mas SMC). ELD also added that Samir and Cheo received none of the overseas votes. The counting was held at the ELD Training Centre in Victoria Street under witness of several candidates such as Yee Jenn Jong.

Election analysis===-->

Notes

References

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