Singapore’s parliament was dissolved Tuesday, paving the way for general elections in which the city-state’s long-ruling People’s Action Party will seek to strengthen its dominance under Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. The election will be held on May 3, the Elections Department said later in the afternoon. Victory is virtually assured for the PAP, which has led Singapore since its independence in 1965.
“We are witnessing profound changes in the world. It is becoming more uncertain, unsettled and even unstable,” Wong wrote on Facebook. “The global conditions that enabled Singapore’s success over the past decades may no longer hold. That is why I have called this General Election,” adding that Singaporeans should choose ”the team to lead our nation.”
Wong, who was sworn in as Singapore’s fourth leader in May last year, wants to clinch a stronger win after the PAP suffered a setback in 2020 polls over voters’ rising discontent with the governmentHe succeeded Lee Hsien Loong, who stepped down after two decades at the helm. Lee’s departure marked the end of a family dynasty started by his father, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first leader who built the former colonial trading outpost into one of the world’s richest nations during 31 years in office
In the 2020 polls held during the COVID-19 pandemic, the PAP maintained its supermajority with 83 out of 93 seats. But it ceded more seats to the opposition, which increased its parliamentary representation from six to 10, the highest ever. The PAP’s share of popular support also slipped to a near-record low of 61%.
