Singapore would hold a snap general election on Sept 11, officials said yesterday, as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sought a new mandate from voters worried over immigration and the high cost of living. Despite a slowing economy, the People’s Action Party (PAP), which has ruled for more than 50 years thanks to strict political controls and Singaporeans’ rising affluence, is expected to keep its overwhelming majority in parliament against a fragmented opposition. But the party will be under pressure to improve on its electoral performance in 2011, when it won just 60 percent of votes cast — its lowest-ever share — despite retaining 80 of the 87 seats in a block-voting system. It will be the first election without the prime minister’s hugely influential father, independence leader Lee Kuan Yew, who died in March.
The election department set the shortest possible campaigning period of nine days after President Tony Tan dissolved parliament at the prime minister’s request.
Lee, who has been in power for 11 years and had until January 2017 to hold an election, sought support in a Facebook post.
“I called this general election to seek your mandate to take Singapore beyond SG50, into its next half century,” he said, referring to the 50th anniversary of independence from Malaysia.
