Singapore's PAP wins elections before vote

Singapore's PAP wins elections before vote

SINGAPORE (Agencies): Singapore set a Jan. 2 polling date yesterday in its eighth general election, with the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) already assured of an eighth successive term in office.

The announcement was made by election returning officer Tan Boon Huat after nominations closed yesterday with the opposition choosing not to contest for 47 of 83 parliamentary wards.

"Polling Day is Thursday, 2nd January 1997," a brief statement issued by Tan said.

The ruling People's Action Party (PAP), which has run Singapore since independence 30 years ago, swept back to power even before the election date had been set.

"We are already in government," Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told reporters shortly after nominations closed. The government said the PAP had won 47 seats in the 83-member parliament because no opposition candidates had entered the race for those constituencies.

Opposition leaders had admitted they were unlikely to put up more than 40 candidates and a PAP landslide was never in doubt.

The opposition parties held only four seats in the old 81- member parliament and said they would adopt a by-election strategy in the general election, picking races in which they might have a chance, under which they deliberately refrain from fielding enough candidates to unseat the PAP.

They hope this allays Singaporeans' fears of a freak result that would defeat the PAP, thus encouraging more of the 1.88 million voters to back opposition candidates who would act as a check on the government.

The Election Commission said the Jan. 2 voting day, a Thursday rather than the usual Saturday, would be a public holiday with schools used as voting centers.

The date gives the minimum period of nine days for campaigning following the close of nominations yesterday. The PAP normally goes for the minimum to give the opposition the least chance of mounting a sustained campaign.

The PAP has launched a tough campaign to keep the opposition out of parliament.

Ministers toured constituencies over the weekend with a stark message -- vote for the opposition and forget any prospect of getting lavish government renovation and development schemes.

Goh was the bluntest, telling voters on Sunday he would respect their choice if they elected someone from the opposition.

But, he added: "Then you'll be left behind, then in 20, 30 years' time, the whole of Singapore will be bustling away and your estate, through your own choice, will be left behind. They'll become slums. That's my message."

Singapore has blossomed under the PAP into a thriving, modern city where the Gross Domestic Product per capita is higher than in Britain, the former colonial power.

The PAP is sometimes criticized abroad for its tough, patriarchal government where murderers and drug traffickers are hanged and lesser offenders caned.

But Goh shrugs off such perceptions. He told students on Friday that Singapore could not have become what it has if the opposition had been given a chance.

"Do you think we could have done even half of what was achieved in the last 30 years if we had a multi-party system and a revolving door government," he asked.

"Do you think we could have done just as well if we had a government which was constantly being held in check by 10 to 20 opposition members in the last 30 years?"

Nevertheless, political analysts say the most keenly watched aspect of the elections will be the percentage of the PAP vote, to see whether running one-third new candidates will reverse a decline to 59.3 percent in 1991 from 75.6 percent in 1980.

The PAP has adopted an aggressive grassroots policy over the past few years in an attempt to boost its vote.

Nevertheless, analysts say a PAP victory ahead of elections might encourage the vote for the opposition.

"It is a generally accepted fact that a large part of the opposition's support stems from Singaporeans' desire to have opposition voices in parliament and not so much from their wanting an alternative government," Straits Times columnist Chua Lee Hoong wrote on Sunday.