110-538: The Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in Central and Western Singapore. The five divisions consists: Buona Vista , Queenstown , Moulmein-Cairnhill, Tanjong Pagar - Tiong Bahru and Henderson-Dawson managed by Tanjong Pagar Town Council. The current Members of Parliament are Chan Chun Sing , Joan Pereira , Alvin Tan , Eric Chua and Indranee Rajah from
220-531: A simple plurality voting ("winner takes all") basis. A by-election need not be held to fill a vacancy in any GRC triggered by the death or resignation of an MP, even if there are no other minority candidates in that GRC, or any other reason. A by-election is required only if all the MPs in a GRC vacate their Parliamentary seats. Assuming that such a situation does arise, the Prime Minister would be obliged to call
330-403: A GRC ward returns five or six candidates into Parliament, compared with one vote in a SMC ward, which only returns one. In counterbalance it dilutes electors' voting power and may result in concerns raised taken less seriously as to lobbying/correspondence. Specifically, in an SMC ward are around 14,000 voters, compared to 140,000 voters in a five- or six-member GRC. Thus, the per-candidate power of
440-455: A GRC with a rapidly expanding population is properly managed. As the population of a constituency grows, it becomes increasingly difficult for an MP to singlehandedly represent the views of all constituents. A team of MPs arguably has greater access to more constituents, and the fact that there are different MPs in the team suggests they can more effectively provide representation in Parliament of
550-604: A GRC. The number of MPs in each GRC is declared by the President at the Cabinet's direction before a general election . For the purposes of the 2020 general election , there were 14 SMCs and 17 GRCs, each returning four or five MPs. Reception towards to the GRC system is mixed, with some critics disagreeing with the government's justifications for introducing the scheme, noting that the proportion of minority MPs per GRC has rather decreased with
660-424: A SMC ward. The national average for the 2006 elections was 66.6%. Similar trends can be seen from previous elections. The gap grew from 3% in 1991, and remained stable at around 5% in the 1997 , 2001 and 2006 elections. This may be attributable to the enlargement of the size of GRCs in 1997 which gave greater effect to the law of large numbers. People%27s Action Party The People's Action Party ( PAP )
770-628: A Workers' Party of Singapore team in Aljunied GRC at the 2011 general election . It is also said that GRCs serve more as administrative tools than to ensure minority representation. The size of GRCs was increased to take advantage of economies of scale when managing the wards. However, whether GRCs are required for this purpose is arguable, as Goh Chok Tong stated in 1988 that MPs in SMCs could still group together after elections to enjoy economies of scale. The GRC scheme has also been criticized for raising
880-492: A by-election within a reasonable time, unless he intends to call a general election in the near future. As Article 39A of the Constitution states, the GRC scheme entrenches the presence of minority MPs in Parliament, ensuring that interests of minority communities are represented in Parliament. Article 39A(1)(a) of the Constitution allows for a maximum number of six MPs for each GRC so as to provide flexibility in ensuring that
990-458: A common race, culture and language. Derek da Cunha has proposed that the law of large numbers favours the GRC system. According to the theory, the large number of voters from GRC wards generally, though not necessarily always, reflects the popular vote. This was evident at the 2006 elections, at which the PAP garnered an average of 67.04% of the votes in a contested GRC, while the average was 61.67% for
1100-456: A crisis and led to Rahman forcing Singapore to leave Malaysia on 9 August 1965. Upon independence, the nascent People's Action Party of Malaya, which had been registered in Malaysia on 10 March 1964, had its registration cancelled on 9 September 1965, just a month after Singapore's exit. Those with the now non-existent party applied to register People's Action Party, Malaya which was again rejected by
1210-413: A gamble and commit huge proportions of their resources to contest GRCs. Each candidate in a GRC is required to deposit a sum equal to 8% of the total allowances payable to an MP in the calendar year preceding the election, rounded to the nearest S$ 500. At the 2011 general election, the deposit was $ 16,000. Unsuccessful candidates have their deposits forfeited if they do not receive at least one-eighth of
SECTION 10
#17329052612541320-516: A pair, one of whom had to be from a minority community. However, Malay MPs were upset that this implied they were not electable on their own merits. Feeling that the twinning of constituencies would lead to Malay MPs losing confidence and self-respect, the Government dropped the proposal. Therefore, the Government felt that the best way to ensure minority representation in Parliament was to introduce
1430-597: A single homogeneous community out of the many races that form the population of the Republic. The third proposal was to have an upper house in Parliament composed of members elected or nominated to represent the racial, linguistic and religious minorities in Singapore. However, this was rejected as being backward-looking since politicians should attain a seat in Parliament through taking part in elections. In 1988, 39 SMCs were grouped into 13 three-member GRCs, making up 39 out of
1540-592: A strong and robust military , serving as a purportedly indispensable guarantor of the country's continued sovereignty within the context of its strategic position for international finance and trade . Lee Kuan Yew , Toh Chin Chye and Goh Keng Swee were involved in the Malayan Forum , a London-based student activist group that was against colonial rule in Malaya in the 1940s and early 1950s. Upon returning to Singapore,
1650-476: A total of 81 elected seats in Parliament. The Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act were changed in 1991 and again in 1996 to increase the maximum number of MPs in each GRC from three to four, and then to six. In the 2001 general election , three- and four-member GRCs were replaced by five- and six-member GRCs. There were nine five-member GRCs and five six-member GRCs, making up 75 out of
1760-412: A traditional Leninist form of party organisation, together with a vanguard cadre from its labour -leaning faction. The PAP Executive later expelled the leftist faction in 1961, bringing the ideological basis of the party into the centre and later in the 1960s moving further to the right. In the beginning, there were about 500 so-called temporary cadres appointed, however the current number of cadres
1870-424: A wide range of constituents' views. The official justification for the GRC scheme is to entrench minority representation in Parliament. However, opposition parties have questioned the usefulness of GRCs in fulfilling this purpose, especially since Singapore has not faced the issue of minorities being under-represented in Parliament. In fact, statistics show that all PAP minority candidates have won regularly and that
1980-501: Is a GRC returns the number of MPs designated for the constituency by the President to serve in Parliament. A group of individuals standing together in a GRC is voted for as a team, and not as individual candidates. In other words, a successful voter's single vote in an SMC sends to Parliament one MP, and a GRC sends a group of MPs from the same single list depending on how many have been designated for that GRC. All elected MPs are selected on
2090-596: Is a major conservative political party of the centre-right in Singapore . It is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in the Parliament of Singapore , alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and the Progress Singapore Party (PSP). Initially founded as a traditional centre-left party in 1954, the leftist faction was soon expelled in 1961 by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in
2200-481: Is also said to disadvantage opposition parties because it is more difficult for them to find enough candidates with the political expertise to contest GRCs. Furthermore, it is said that the GRC scheme means that electors may have unequal voting power, weakens the relationship between electors and MPs, and entrenches racialism in Singapore politics due to its emphasis on minority representation. There are two types of electoral division or constituency in Singapore :
2310-471: Is also the only Asian country with the top AAA sovereign rating from the "Big Three" credit rating agencies of S&P , Moody's and Fitch . Lee Kuan Yew once said in 1992: "Through Hong Kong watching, I concluded that state welfare and subsidies blunted the individual's drive to succeed. I watched with amazement the ease with which Hong Kong workers adjusted their salaries upwards in boom times and downwards in recessions. I resolved to reverse course on
SECTION 20
#17329052612542420-580: Is determined by two committees appointed by the President, the Malay Community Committee and the Indian and Other Minority Communities Committee. Decisions of these committees are final and conclusive, and may not be appealed against or called into question in any court. The President, at the Cabinet's direction, declares the electoral divisions that are to be GRCs; the number of candidates (three to six) to stand for Parliament in each GRC; and whether
2530-688: Is generally done just before a general election to review the boundaries of electoral divisions and recommend changes. In recent decades, the Committee has been chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and has had four other members who are senior public servants. In the EBRC appointed before the general election of 2006 , these were the head of the Elections Department , the Chief Executive Officer of
2640-625: Is unknown, with the register of cadres being kept confidential. In 1988, Wong Kan Seng revealed that there were more than 1,000 cadres. Cadre members have the right to attend party conferences and to vote for and elect and to be elected into the Central Executive Committee (CEC), the pinnacle of party leaders. To become a cadre, a party member must be first nominated by the MP in their branch. The candidate will then undergo three sessions of interview, each with four to five ministers or MPs and
2750-579: The 1955 general election in which 25 of 32 seats in the legislature were up for election. In this election, the PAP's four candidates gained much support from the trade union members and student groups such as the University Socialist Club , who canvassed for them. The party won three seats, one by its leader Lee Kuan Yew for the Tanjong Pagar division and one by PAP co-founder Lim Chin Siong for
2860-427: The 1959 general election under Lee Kuan Yew's leadership. The election was also the first one to produce a fully elected parliament and a cabinet wielding powers of full internal self-government . The party has remained in power ever since, winning a majority of seats in every successive general election. Lee, who became the first Prime Minister and who will eventually helm this post for the next 31 years, requested
2970-617: The Barisan Sosialis with Lim Chin Siong as secretary-general. Aside from the Chinese union leaders, lawyers Thampoe Thamby Rajah and Tann Wee Tiong, several members from the University Socialist Club such as James Puthucheary (father of Janil Puthucheary ) and Poh Soo Kai joined the party. 35 of 51 branches of the PAP and 19 of 23 branch secretaries defected to Barisan. After gaining independence from Britain, Singapore joined
3080-708: The Bukit Timah division. Then 22 years old unionist Lim Chin Siong was and remained the youngest Assemblyman ever to be elected to office. The election was won by the Labour Front headed by David Marshall . In April 1956, Lim and Lee represented the PAP at the London Constitutional Talks along with Chief Minister David Marshall which ended in failure as the British declined to grant Singapore internal self-government . On 7 June 1956, Marshall, disappointed with
3190-460: The Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). It subsequently achieved a monopoly in an expanding parliament (winning every parliamentary seat) for the next four elections ( 1968 , 1972 , 1976 and 1980 ). Opposition parties returned to the legislature at a 1981 by-election . The 1984 general election was the first election in 21 years in which opposition parties won seats. From then until 2006 ,
3300-552: The Members of Parliament (MPs) for the constituency. Synonymous to the party block voting (PBV) or the general ticket used in other countries, the Government stated that the GRC scheme was primarily implemented to enshrine minority representation in Parliament: at least one of the MPs in a GRC must be a member of the Malay , Indian or another minority community of Singapore. In addition, it
3410-556: The Nominated Member of Parliament (NMPs) scheme (in 1990), which has helped strengthened the government's dominance and control of Parliament. The longtime governing party of Singapore , spans both past and present, but notably occurred in the mid-1980s where the first generation of PAP leaders in the CEC and the Cabinet of Singapore ceded power to a second generation of leaders. By 1984,
Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency - Misplaced Pages Continue
3520-697: The People's Action Party (PAP). This GRC came into formation in 1991, when it absorbed the Tiong Bahru GRC , Telok Blangah SMC and Tanjong Pagar SMC . Since the formation of the GRC, the ward was notable for its repeated walkovers . The last walkover was in 2011 when Tanjong Pagar GRC became the only constituency to be uncontested following the disqualification of a team of independent candidates (which led by Ng Teck Siong) as they submitted their nomination papers 35 seconds late. ^ Lee died on 23 March 2015 due to pneumonia . No by-elections were called as it
3630-577: The Prime Minister from time to time by notification in the Government Gazette . Since 1954, a year ahead of the 1955 general election , an Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) has been appointed to advise the executive on the number and geographical division of electoral divisions. Even though neither the Constitution nor any law requires this to be done, the Prime Minister has continued to do so from Singapore's independence in 1965. This
3740-804: The Singapore Land Authority , the Deputy CEO of the Housing and Development Board and the Acting Chief Statistician. Since the Committee is only convened shortly before general elections, the preparatory work for boundary delimitation is done by its secretariat the Elections Department, which is a division of the Prime Minister's Office . The EBRC's terms of reference are issued by the Prime Minister, and are not embodied in legislation. In giving recommendations for boundary changes over
3850-416: The single member constituency (SMC) and the group representation constituency (GRC). In a GRC, a number of candidates comes together to stand for elections to Parliament as a group. Each voter of a GRC casts a ballot for a team of candidates, and not for individual candidates. The GRC scheme was brought into existence on 1 June 1988 by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Act 1988 and
3960-437: The "communist" members, before the "moderates" re-assumed their office. Following this, the PAP decided to re-assert ties with the labour faction of Singapore in the hope of securing the votes of working-class Chinese Singaporeans, many of whom were supporters of the jailed unionists. Lee Kuan Yew convinced the incarcerated union leaders to sign documents to state their support for the party and its policies, promising to release
4070-529: The "old guard" (first generation of party leaders) had been governing Singapore for approximately a quarter of a century. Aging leadership was a key concern, and then Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew sought to groom younger leaders. In a speech on 29 September 1984, Lee argued that though the first generation of leaders was still "alert and fully in charge", to hang on to power until they had become feeble would allow power to be wrested from them, with no say in who their successors were. On 30 September, at
4180-448: The 84 elected seats in Parliament. This arrangement remained unchanged at the 2006 elections. On 27 May 2009, the Government announced that it would refine the size and number of GRCs. This could be achieved without amending either the Constitution or the Parliamentary Elections Act. Instead, when the next EBRC was appointed, its terms of reference would instruct the Committee to plan for fewer six-member GRCs than at present, and to reduce
4290-532: The Arts George Yeo, Young PAP took charge of running several online websites to create an online presence for the party. After popular forum Sintercom was shut down in 2001, the Young PAP offered their own forum for moderated discussions. They have since set up various blogs and social media accounts with multimedia content to engage the masses. In February 2007, it was reported by The Straits Times that
4400-640: The British for the release of the left-wing members of the PAP, including the likes of Devan Nair . In 1961, the Singapore Trades Union Congress (STUC), which had backed the PAP back in 1959, split into the pro-PAP National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the non-affiliated and more leftist Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU). The SATU collapsed in 1963, following the now PAP-led government's crackdown and detention of its leaders during Operation Coldstore and its subsequent official deregistration on 13 November 1963. The NTUC remains as
4510-471: The CEC are usually Cabinet members. From 1957 onward, the rules laid down that the outgoing CEC should recommend a list of candidates from which the cadre members can then vote for the next CEC. This has recently changed so that the CEC nominates eight members and the party caucus selects the remaining ten. Historically, the position of Secretary-General was not considered for the office of Prime Minister, but rather
Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-601: The Central Executive Committee held an election to choose the prime minister. There was a contest between PAP Secretary-General Lee Kuan Yew and PAP Treasurer Ong Eng Guan , prior to 1959. Lee subsequently won the leadership and was inaugurated as the first prime minister of Singapore. The next lower level committee is the HQ Executive Committee (HQ EXCO) which performs the party's administration and oversees 14 sub-committees. The sub-committees are
4730-496: The First and Second Assistant Secretaries-General respectively, the second and third highest positions of the party. They had replaced then Assistant Secretaries-General Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam . A significant step of the leadership transition from the third-generation leaders to the fourth-generation leaders. On 1 May 2019, Heng Swee Keat was appointed the new and sole Deputy Prime Minister, replacing Teo and Tharman. He
4840-519: The Friends of the PAP programme had "fallen out of the public consciousness" after 2002. However, in June 2024, the PAP revived the Friends of the PAP programme and expanded it, now with a renewed focus on local social media influencers , with the intention to connect with a wider and younger audience. The PAP did not respond to media queries about whether the Friends of the PAP programme remained invite-only or what
4950-488: The GRC scheme. In addition, it took the view that such a scheme would complement the introduction of town councils to manage public housing estates , as it would be economical for a town council to manage a group of three constituencies. Subsequently, in 1991, the Government said that GRCs also minimized the need to redraw the boundaries of constituencies which had grown too big for the MPs serving them, and, in 1996, GRCs were said to provide Community Development Councils with
5060-466: The Malay community if, regardless of whether or not he or she is of the Malay race, considers himself or herself to be a member of the community and is generally accepted as such by the community. Similarly, a person will belong to the Indian community or some other minority community if he or she considers himself or herself a member and the community accepts him or her as such. The minority status of candidates
5170-656: The Malaysian government, before settling with the Democratic Action Party (DAP). The PAP has held an overwhelming majority of seats in the Parliament of Singapore since 1966, when the opposition Barisan Sosialis (Socialist Front) resigned from Parliament after winning 13 seats following the 1963 general election , which took place months after a number of their leaders had been arrested in Operation Coldstore based on accusations of being communists affliated with
5280-531: The Medium Security Prison (MSP) instead. The number of PAP members imprisoned rose in August 1957, when PAP members from the pro-communist trade unions won half the seats in the Central Executive Committee (CEC). The "moderate" CEC members, including Lee Kuan Yew, Toh Chin Chye and others, refused to take their appointments in the CEC. Yew Hock's government again made a sweeping round of arrests, imprisoning all
5390-595: The Ordinary Party Conference, power was transferred to the second generation of leaders, who were elected to the Central Executive Committee in place of all the old CEC members; of the 14-member CEC, only Lee Kuan Yew remained the only "old guard" leader. According to a report to the Library of Congress , the old guard were confident in their "rectitude" and discretion in using their extensive political powers for Singapore's common good, but were not as confident in
5500-499: The PAP faced four opposition MPs at most. Opposition parties did not win more than four parliamentary seats from 1984 until 2011 when the Workers' Party (WP) won six seats and took away a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) for the first time for any opposition party, as well as until 2020 by which an opposition party had won more than one GRC, which was also achieved by the WP. Even so,
5610-423: The PAP is ideologically socially conservative and economically liberal . The party generally favours free-market economic policies, having turned Singapore's economy into one of the world's freest and most open, but has at times engaged in state interventionism reminiscent of welfarism . The party has supported the creation of state-owned enterprises , known locally as government-linked corporations . This
SECTION 50
#17329052612545720-426: The PAP leadership to clarify its position on them, as they still thought that the party with Lee Kuan Yew at the helm was a better alternative than Ong who was regarded as mercurial and a tyrant. However, Lee took the stance taken by the left-wing PAP members as a lack of confidence in his leadership. This issue caused a rift between the "moderate" PAP members (led by Lee) and the "left-wing" faction (led by Lim). Ong
5830-459: The PAP might rule Malaysia agitated UMNO. The PAP's decision to contest federal parliamentary seats outside Singapore and the UMNO decision to contest seats within Singapore breached an unspoken agreement to respect each other's spheres of influence and aggravated PAP–UMNO relations . The clash of personalities between PAP leader Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman resulted in
5940-455: The PAP still holds a supermajority in the legislature, to the point that Singapore is effectively a dominant party system similar to Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rule of the country. With its supermajority, the PAP has always had the ability to amend the Constitution of Singapore at will, including the introduction of multi-member constituencies under the GRC system (in 1988) or
6050-533: The PAP's new media committee chaired by Minister Ng Eng Hen , had initiated an effort to counter critics anonymously on the Internet "as it was necessary for the PAP to have a voice on cyberspace". The initiative was divided by two sub-committees, one of which was in charge of strategising the campaigns and is co-headed by Minister Lui Tuck Yew and MP Zaqy Mohamad. The other sub-committee—new media capabilities group led by MPs Baey Yam Keng and Josephine Teo executed
6160-511: The Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act 1988. The original stated purpose of GRCs was to guarantee a minimum representation of minorities in Parliament and ensure that there would always be a multiracial Parliament instead of one made up of a single race. Speaking in Parliament during the debate on whether GRCs should be introduced, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Goh Chok Tong said he had first discussed
6270-517: The Public Service, in response to Poa, said WP and PSP also relied on the "star power" of Low Thia Khiang and Tan Cheng Bock to win Aljunied GRC in 2011 and PSP having NCMPs now in parliament. Leader of the Opposition and Workers' Party 's (WP) chief Pritam Singh also highlighted the usage of GRC for gerrymandering, citing the merging of SMCs, in close contest between PAP and WP, into GRC in
6380-510: The ability for its own population to fully elect its Legislative Assembly. PAP and left-wing members who were communists were criticised for inciting riots in the mid-1950s. Lim Chin Siong, Fong Swee Suan and Devan Nair as well as several unionists were detained by the police after the Chinese middle schools riots . Lim Chin Siong was placed under solitary confinement for close to a year, away from his other PAP colleagues, as they were placed in
6490-402: The advent of five-member and six-member GRCs, although the latter was not present in the 2020 general election. In addition, the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has been described as using GRCs as a means of bringing in politically inexperienced candidates into Parliament by " riding on the coattails " of GRCs helmed by senior politicians, including "anchor" ministers. Moreover, the GRC scheme
6600-514: The age of 35 had then been grouped under the Youth Committee. In 1993, the Youth Committee was renamed the Young PAP. In an effort to attract members, then Chairman George Yeo said that people joining the YP could take positions different from central party leadership . The age limit was raised from 35 to 40. Memberships are issued through the PAP branches under each constituency in Singapore. By 2005,
6710-430: The appointment is then made by the CEC. About 100 candidates are nominated each year. Political power in the party is concentrated in the CEC, led by the secretary-general. The secretary-general of the PAP is the leader of the party. Due to PAP's electoral victories in every general election since 1959, the prime minister of Singapore has been by convention the secretary-general of the PAP since 1959. Key appointments in
SECTION 60
#17329052612546820-425: The average size of each GRC. The average size of GRCs at that time was 5.4 MPs because there were only five-member and six-member GRCs. The new average, however, would not exceed five MPs. In addition, to ensure that the number of SMCs kept pace with the increase in voters and hence the number of MPs, the EBRC's terms of reference would state that there should be at least 12 SMCs. The rationale given for these changes
6930-424: The ballot in a GRC is lower than in an SMC, as each voter in a GRC finds it harder to vote out an MP that he or she does not like; but the overall power effect is the same. Malapportionment is a viable charge against some divisions as a 30% deviation from equality of electorate is tolerated. It follows, a five-member GRC could in theory have from 91,000 voters to 86% more: 169,000 voters. Critics have noted that
7040-405: The bar for the opposition in elections. First, opposition parties may find it harder to find competent candidates, including minority candidates, to form teams to contest GRCs. Goh Chok Tong has acknowledged that the GRC scheme benefits the PAP as they can put together stronger teams. With the GRC system the threshold for votes for the opposition is also increased, and opposition parties have to take
7150-455: The coat-tails of the established PAP members. Since 1991, the PAP has generally not fielded first-time candidates in SMC wards. On the other hand, one of the "in-built weaknesses" of GRCs may be that "through no fault of their own or that of their team", "high-value" MPs can be voted out; this was said to have occurred when former Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo lost his parliamentary seat to
7260-454: The coattails of more established teammates, reduced voters’ choice over election results. During the parliament debate, Poa mentioned vacancies in the GRC when MPs resign from their seat midterm, citing Halimah Yacob 's resignation in 2017 to contest in the 2017 Singaporean presidential election and Tharman Shanmugaratnam 's upcoming resignation to contest in the 2023 Singaporean presidential election . Chan Chun Sing , Minister-in-charge of
7370-399: The committee had grown to more than 6,000 members. In 2010, then Vice-Chairman Zaqy Mohamad said the YP attracts over 1200 new members that year, an increase on the 1000 new members in 2009. Since 1995, the youth-wing of the PAP has had an internet presence that aims to "correct 'misinformation' about Singapore politics or culture". Under the urging of then Minister for Information and
7480-535: The constitutional talks, stepped down as Chief Minister as he had pledged to do so earlier if self-governance was not achieved. He was replaced by Lim Yew Hock , another Labour Front member. Lim pursued a largely anti-communist campaign and managed to convince the British to make a definite plan for self-government. The Constitution of Singapore was revised accordingly in 1958, replacing the Rendel Constitution with one that granted Singapore self-government and
7590-470: The consultation process, surpassing that of other nominees. His candidacy was unanimously endorsed by the cabinet and subsequently, by the PAP MPs at a party caucus on 14 April. During the party's conference on 24 November 2024, Lee Hsien Loong indicated during the that he would be endorsing Wong as the next secretary-general when the next CEC meeting convenes. During its initial years, the party had adopted
7700-419: The credibility and accountability of some candidates may be reduced because in a GRC the members of the team who are popular "protect" less popular members from being voted out. It has been said that the relationship between the electorate and their representatives is also weakened, because the relationship is between the individual and the GRC team rather than between the individual and a particular MP. Improving
7810-477: The critical mass of residents that they needed to be effective. Three proposals for minority representation in Parliament had been considered by a 1966 Constitutional Commission chaired by the Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin . The first was to have a committee of representatives of minorities that would elect three persons from amongst its members to represent minorities in Parliament. However, this
7920-448: The election. For decades thereafter, the PAP exercised exclusivity over its governance of national institutions and become the largest political party in the country. From 1965 to 1981, the PAP was the only political force represented in Parliament until it saw its first electoral defeat to the WP at a by-election in the constituency of Anson . Nevertheless, the PAP has not seen its hegemony threatened and has always received over 60% of
8030-545: The federation of Malaysia in 1963. Although the PAP was the ruling party in the state of Singapore, the PAP functioned as an opposition party at the federal level in the larger Malaysian political landscape. At that time and until the 2018 general election , the federal government in Kuala Lumpur was controlled by a coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). However, the prospect that
8140-466: The following: The Young PAP is the youth-wing of the party, serving as a youth organisation for young adults and students in Singapore who support the PAP and have an interest in politics . The incumbent chairman of the youth-wing is Janil Puthucheary . The YP's predecessor, the PAP Youth Committee, was established in 1986, under Lee Hsien Loong 's tenure as Chairman. All PAP members under
8250-601: The former Mayor of the City Council after PAP's victory in the 1957 Singapore City Council election , presented a set of "16 Resolutions" to revisit some issues previously explored by Chin Siong's faction of the PAP: abolishing the PPSO, revising the Constitution, and changing the method of selecting cadre members. Although Ong's 16 Resolutions originated from the left-wing faction led by Lim Chin Siong, that faction had only reluctantly asked
8360-584: The governance of the PAP has occasionally been characterised by some observers, especially in the West , as "semi-authoritarian" or " nanny-like " by "liberal democratic standards". According to Professor Kenneth Paul Tan from the NUS, the PAP proclaim that many Singaporeans continue to vote for the party as economic considerations, pragmatism and stability triumph over accountability and checks and balances by opposition parties. The party economic ideology has always accepted
8470-590: The group met regularly to discuss approaches to attain independence in Malayan territories and started looking for like-minded individuals to start a political party. Journalist S. Rajaratnam was introduced to Lee by Goh. Lee was also introduced to several English-educated left-wing students and Chinese-educated union and student leaders while working on the Fajar sedition trial and the National Service riot case. The PAP
8580-480: The jailed members of the PAP when the party came to power in the next elections. Ex- Barisan Sosialis member Tan Jing Quee claims that Lee was secretly in collusion with the British to stop Lim Chin Siong and the labour supporters from attaining power because of their huge popularity. Quee also states that Lim Yew Hock deliberately provoked the students into rioting and then had the labour leaders arrested. Greg Poulgrain of Griffiths University argued that "Lee Kuan Yew
8690-496: The link between voters and MPs, and to make the latter more accountable was the reason for the changes proposed in 2009 to introduce more SMCs and to reduce the size of GRCs. Even though the GRC scheme is intended to ensure minority representation in Parliament, it can be said that the scheme emphasizes racial consciousness and hence widens the gap between races. It may undermine the esteem of minority candidates as they would not be sure if they are elected on their own merit, or due to
8800-481: The midst of Singapore's merger with Malaysia , desiring to move the party's ideology towards the centre after its first electoral victory in 1959 . Beginning in the 1960s, the party began to move towards the centre-right . Following the 1965 agreement which led to Singapore's independence from Malaysia, the entire opposition boycotted the general elections in 1968 , except for the Worker's Party, which won no seats in
8910-470: The minority candidates in each GRC are to be from the Malay, Indian, or other minority communities. The number of GRCs in which at least one MP must be from the Malay community must be three-fifths of the total number of GRCs, and the number of MPs to be returned by all GRCs cannot be less than a quarter of the total number of MPs to be returned at a general election. For the 2011 general election , there were 14 SMCs and 17 GRCs. An electoral division which
9020-419: The minority member of the GRC left. Furthermore, the GRC scheme is now used as a recruiting tool for the PAP. In 2006, Goh Chok Tong stated, "Without some assurance of a good chance of winning at least their first election, many able and successful young Singaporeans may not risk their careers to join politics". Every PAP GRC team is helmed by a major figure such as a minister, and allowed candidates to ride on
9130-573: The necessity of ensuring the multiracial nature of Parliament with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in July 1982. Then, Lee had expressed concern about the voting patterns of younger Singaporeans, who appeared to be apathetic to the need of having a racially balanced slate of candidates. He was also worried about more Singaporeans voting along racial lines, which would lead to a lack of minority representation in Parliament. Lee had also proposed to twin constituencies and have Members of Parliament (MPs) contest as
9240-545: The need for some welfare spending , and pragmatic economic interventionism . However, free-market policies have been popular since the 1980s as part of the wider implementation of a meritocracy in civil society and Singapore frequently ranks extremely highly on indices of economic freedom published by economically liberal organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund . Singapore
9350-506: The next election. WP also called for the abolition of GRCs. Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean responded that accusations of gerrymandering existed long ago and asked Singh to suggest to EBRC to break up opposition held GRCs into SMCs. Parliament rejected the motion. Apart from the requirement that there must be at least eight SMCs, the total number of SMCs and GRCs in Singapore and their boundaries are not fixed. The number of electoral divisions and their names and boundaries are specified by
9460-556: The next generation in doing so. Various limits on executive power were considered, in order to minimise the chances of corruption. These included a popularly elected President of Singapore with substantial, nonceremonial powers. This particular reform was enacted with a constitutional amendment in 1991. The old guard also sought to eschew the use of PAP as a central political institution, seeking to "depoliticise" and disperse power among society, and sought to include low-level community leaders in government. A policy of cross-fertilisation
9570-539: The number of MPs to be returned by all GRCs cannot be less than a quarter of the total number of MPs. Within those parameters the total number of SMCs and GRCs in Singapore and their boundaries are not fixed but are decided by the Cabinet , taking into consideration the recommendations of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee. Per the Constitution and the PEA, there must be between three and six MPs in
9680-530: The only two MPs to lose their seats in 1984 were "racially" Chinese. One of them was beaten by a minority candidate. In addition, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaratnam of the WP won a by-election in 1981 at Anson , a largely Chinese constituency, and the first elected Chief Minister of Singapore was David Marshall who was Jewish. Technically, as the size of GRCs has increased, the minority has had less representation overall as
9790-430: The possible candidates to succeed Heng, ranging from Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong , Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung , Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing . On 14 April 2022, Finance Minister Lawrence Wong was selected as the new leader of the PAP's fourth-generation (4G) team, succeeding Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat who had stepped down as 4G leader. Wong received an "overwhelming majority" of support in
9900-534: The proportion of minority MPs per GRC has been reduced. Since minority MPs are a numerical minority in Parliament, their political clout has also been reduced. In February 2017, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing said that if a minority candidate leaves their group representation constituency (GRC), a by-election will not be called. Chan claimed that the goals of having enough minority members in Parliament, and to ensure no political campaign on issues of race and religion, would still be met even if
10010-599: The rules of engagement for members of the programme were. Professor Hussin Mutalib from the National University of Singapore (NUS) opines that the PAP has often set forth the idea of Asian democracy and values, drawing from a notion of Asian culture and Confucianism to construct ideological bulwarks against Western democracy . He added that for founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew , "Singapore would be better off without Western-style liberal democracy". Consequently,
10120-478: The scheme and the merits of the rest of the team of MPs. This would result in minority candidates resenting that they are dependent on the majority to enter Parliament, and the majority candidates believing that minority candidates have insufficient ability. It has also been claimed that the GRC scheme demeans the majority of Singaporeans as it assumes that they are not able to see the value or merit of minority candidates, and only vote for candidates with whom they share
10230-431: The sole trade union centre in the country today and continues to have a close relationship with the PAP. In 1961, disagreements on the proposed merger plan to form Malaysia and long-standing internal party power struggle led to the split of the left-wing group from the PAP. Although the "communist" faction had been frozen out of ever taking over the PAP, other problems had begun to arise internally. Ong Eng Guan ,
10340-400: The strategies. The initiative was set up after the 2006 general election and also included around 20 IT-savvy PAP activists. The PAP has a long-running programme, known as 'Friends of the PAP' by which it enlists individuals and organisations to assist in promoting its political goals. In 2002, secretary-general Goh Chok Tong announced an intention to expand this programme, which at the time
10450-478: The total number of votes polled in the GRC. Critics have noted that the number of walkovers has generally increased since the introduction of GRCs. To date, only one opposition party, the Workers' Party, has won GRCs: Aljunied, in the 2011 general election, and Sengkang, in the 2020 general election. GRCs have been criticized as giving unequal voting and lobbying (correspondence) powers between electors. Every ballot in
10560-419: The votes and 80% of the seats in every subsequent general election. Having governed for over six decades, the PAP is the longest uninterrupted governing party among modern multiparty parliamentary democracies. It is the second-longest governing party in history after Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which led for 71 years from 1929 to 2000. Positioned on the centre-right of Singapore politics,
10670-459: The years, the Committee has considered various factors, including using hill ridges, rivers and roads as boundaries rather than arbitrarily drawn lines; and the need for electoral divisions to have approximately equal numbers of voters so that electors' votes carry the same weight regardless of where they cast their ballots. In 1963, the EBRC adopted a rule allowing the numbers of voters in divisions to differ by no more than 20%. The permitted deviation
10780-610: Was a GRC and Rajah served as a temporary MP for the ward until the general elections in September that year . Note : Elections Department Singapore do not include rejected votes for calculation of candidate's vote share. Hence, the total of all candidates' vote share will be 100%. Group Representation Constituency A group representation constituency ( GRC ) is a type of electoral division or constituency in Singapore in which teams of candidates, instead of individual candidates, compete to be elected into Parliament as
10890-500: Was done in order to jumpstart industrialisation , spearhead economic development and lead to economic growth , primarily job creation , in various sectors of the Singaporean economy . Socially, the PAP supports communitarianism and civic nationalism . The cohesion of the country's main ethnic groups into a single Singaporean national identity forms the basis of many of its social policies. On foreign policy, it favours maintaining
11000-422: Was economical for town councils, which manage public housing estates , to handle larger constituencies. The GRC scheme came into effect on 1 June 1988, and was first introduced at the general election that same year . Prior to that date, all constituencies were Single Member Constituencies (SMCs). The Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 218, 2008 Rev. Ed.) ("PEA") states that there must be at least eight SMCs, and
11110-490: Was enacted: exchange of leaders, "elites" and talent would take place between private and government sectors, civilian and military segments of society, and between the party and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). The next generation of leaders in the late 1980s was split between the factions of then Brigadier General Lee Hsien Loong and the older, more-experienced Goh Chok Tong . Lee Hsien Loong
11220-412: Was increased to 30% in 1980. It is up to the Cabinet to decide whether or not to accept the Committee's recommendations. All the candidates in a GRC must either be members of the same political party or independent candidates standing as a group, and at least one of the candidates must be a person belonging to the Malay, Indian or some other minority community. A person is regarded as belonging to
11330-549: Was officially registered as a political party on 21 November 1954. Convenors of the party include a group of trade unionists, lawyers and journalists such as Lee Kuan Yew, Abdul Samad Ismail , Toh Chin Chye , Devan Nair , S. Rajaratnam, Chan Chiaw Thor, Fong Swee Suan , Tann Wee Keng and Tann Wee Tiong . The political party was led by Lee Kuan Yew as its secretary-general, with Toh Chin Chye as its founding chairman. Other party officers include Tann Wee Tiong, Lee Gek Seng, Ong Eng Guan and Tann Wee Keng. The PAP first contested
11440-445: Was primarily limited to "establishment figures" in the public and private sector. He established a related scheme titled "Young Friends of the PAP" to attract Singaporeans below the age of 40 as well and explained that the intention was to "refresh" the PAP and improve the "quality" of PAP's membership. Membership as a 'Young Friend' was by invitation only, and the group was limited to about 500 people. According to local media reports,
11550-528: Was rejected as the Commission felt that it would be an inappropriate and retrogressive move in that unelected members should not be allowed to dilute the elected chamber. The second proposal, which was to have proportional representation , was also rejected on the grounds that it would intensify party politics along racial lines and eventually "perpetuate and accentuate racial differences". This would then make it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to achieve
11660-571: Was secretly a party with Lim Yew Hock in urging the Colonial Secretary to impose the subversives ban in making it illegal for former political detainees to stand for election". Lee Kuan Yew eventually accused Lim Chin Siong and his supporters of being communists working for the Communist United Front, but evidence of Lim being a communist cadre was a matter of debate as many documents have yet to be declassified. The PAP eventually won
11770-757: Was supported by bureaucrats in the Ministry of Defence and army colleagues in the Singapore Armed Forces ; Goh Chok Tong had more influence in the Singapore Civil Service , the Cabinet and government-linked companies . Lee Kuan Yew himself remained Prime Minister and in the CEC until 1990, when he stepped down in favour of Goh Chok Tong as PM. Lee Hsien Loong became PM in 2004. On 23 November 2018, fourth-generation leadership members, then– Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat and then Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing were elected as
11880-401: Was that the GRC scheme would work better and the link between voters and their MPs would be strengthened. In the 2011 general election, SMCs returned to Parliament 12 MPs and 15 GRCs a total of 75 MPs. In 2023, Progress Singapore Party 's (PSP) non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), Hazel Poa , raised a private member’s motion to abolish GRC, citing outcomes where candidates ride on
11990-551: Was then expelled, and he resigned his Assembly seat to challenge the government to a by-election in Hong Lim in April 1961, where he won 73.3% of the vote. This was despite the fact that Lee Kuan Yew had made a secret alliance with Fong Chong Pik , the leader of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), to get the CPM cadres to support the PAP in the by-election. The breakaway group of members formed
12100-439: Was then widely seen as the 4th and next Prime Minister and Secretary-General of PAP succeeding incumbent Lee Hsien Loong . However on 8 April 2021, Heng surprisingly announced he would step down as the fourth-generation leader and step aside to pave way for younger and healthier leaders to take over the leadership and stressed that health and age as concerns of this decision. After his decision, several Cabinet members were seen as
#253746