The general election in Singapore, May 2006

Abstract

The 10th general election in Singapore was held on 6 May 2006. This was the first election held under the new Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of the city-state’s founder, Lee Kuan Yew. Although the younger Lee had promised a more liberal environment, elections in Singapore are still not generally free and fair. The opposition is severely restricted by law and Singapore’s conservative political culture. Since independence in 1965, the People’s Action Party (PAP) has governed Singapore, leading political scientists to refer to it as a ‘single party’ or ‘soft authoritarian’ state- even as a ‘nanny’ state (Trocki, 2006). The opposition won its first seat only in 1981; since then the opposition has never won more than two seats in parliament.