Singapore will hold a general election on May 3, marking the first electoral challenge for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong since assuming office last year, Al Jazeera reports.
The announcement, made by the Elections Department Singapore on Tuesday, follows President Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s dissolution of parliament on Wong’s recommendation.
The election comes at a precarious time for the city-state, with its export-dependent economy facing potential challenges from global trade tensions, particularly those stemming from US President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Prime Minister Wong, who took over from Lee Hsien Loong in May, stated that he called the election to provide Singaporeans the opportunity to select their next leadership team at a “critical juncture” for the nation.
While all 97 parliamentary seats are up for grabs, Wong’s People’s Action Party (PAP) is widely expected to maintain its long-held grip on power. The PAP, co-founded by Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, has governed Singapore continuously since achieving self-governance from Britain in 1959.
Despite consistently securing over 60% of the vote in past elections, the PAP has faced criticism for allegedly stifling opposition voices through gerrymandering and stringent restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly.
In the 2020 general election, the main opposition Workers’ Party achieved its best-ever result, securing 10 out of the 93 available seats.
Recent polling suggests this year’s election could be more closely contested. A YouGov survey conducted last month revealed that only 44% of respondents had already decided which party they would support. Among those who had made a decision, 63% indicated their preference for the PAP, while 15% favored the Workers’ Party.
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