| Parliament name |
Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
6 May 2006 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for 84 seats in Parliament following premature dissolution of this body on 20 April 2006. Elections had previously been held on 3 November 2001. |
The first general elections under Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
son of the founder of the nation and former prime minister
Mr. Lee Kuan Yew
were held on 6 May 2006.
The People's Action Party (PAP) has won all general elections since the country's independence in 1965
and it took 82 seats in the last elections held in 2001. 55 of these seats were uncontested
assuring PAP of a parliamentary majority even before the elections took place. The opposition Workers' Party (WPS) Singapore and the Democratic Alliance (SDA) won one seat each.
In the 2006 elections
by contesting 47 seats
the opposition parties ensured that for the first time since 1988 there would not be an automatic parliamentary majority for the PAP. The PAP nevertheless won 37 seats unopposed. Media attention focused on whether the opposition would gain more seats and whether the PAP's share of the vote would be as high as at the previous elections (75.3 per cent). A sizeable proportion of the country's 1.22 million eligible voters born after independence were reported to favour the more liberal policies put forward by the opposition.
Prime Minister Lee insisted that the country's de facto one-party system allows the PAP to discuss meaningful issues. Under the slogan
Staying Together, Moving Ahead
the PAP pledged to address the issues of poverty
the elderly and unemployment. The Workers' Party led by Ms. Sylvia Lim
campaigned under the slogan "You Have a Choice". It accused the government of not dealing with the growing income gap between the rich and the poor despite the country's healthy economy.
Voting being compulsory
turnout remained high: 94.01 per cent
0.6 percentage points lower than in the 2001 elections.
The final results gave exactly the same composition as the outgoing Parliament. The PAP won 82 seats; and the opposition WPS and SDA took one seat each. Although the percentage of the votes won by the PAP dropped to 66.6
it still recorded its second highest share of the vote in the past five elections.
The newly-elected Parliament held its first session on 2 November 2006 and re-elected Mr. Abdullah Tarmugi (PAP) as its Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 6 May 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
1'222'884
1'149'668 (94.01%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| People's Action Party (PAP) |
|
|
|
|
66.60 |
|
|
| Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Workers' Party (WPS) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| People's Action Party (PAP) |
82
|
|
|
|
|
| Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
| Workers' Party (WPS) |
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
71
23
24.47%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
Over 70 years
|
12
42
25
4
2
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
In the 2006 elections
18 women were elected:
- 17 of 84 directly elected MPs (from People's Action Party);
- 1 Non-Constituency MP (from Workers' Party).
Nine members
including five women
were appointed on 19 January 2007
thus bringing the total number of women to 23.
Sources:
- http://www.elections.gov.sg/pressrelease.htm
- Parliament (11.07.2006
22.01.2007
01.01.2010) |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
