Singapore Political Situation

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Janet Morris

6:43am Friday 10 February

Singapore Political Situation

Singapore is a republic with a parliamentary system of government. The Head of State is the President, who is elected every six years. (The current president SR Nathan was elected on 1 September 1999 and re-elected in 2005). The Prime Minister and other Members of the Cabinet are appointed by the President from the elected Members of Parliament.

The People's Action Party (PAP) was returned to government in the last general election held on 6 May 2006. PAP regained 82 of the 84 seats in the House, but, saw its popular vote decrease from 75.3 percent to 66.6 percent. The campaign run by the Opposition was significantly more cohesive than in past years, ensuring sufficient candidates to contest 47 contestable seats in the House. The Opposition won 2 of these 47, and gained a third seat by a legal requirement for there to be three Opposition seats in the house. The decrease in numbers voting for PAP reflects an increasing maturity in the electorate and a willingness to express a divergent view.

The government in Singapore has been criticised for hindering free and open political debate. In response to such criticism, the government has taken some steps to liberalise the media and to encourage more debate in parliament. In 1990 it introduced a nominated MP system to provide non-partisan viewpoints in parliament. Nominated MPs are selected from academia, the media, community organisations, the business community, sporting and art worlds.