Abstract
Singapore’s one-party-dominant system, which has been in place since 1959, remains dynamic and robust. Citizens took part and voted for the Singapore General Election on 11 September 2015. Election results were surprising. The incumbent, People’s Action Party (PAP) returned to power, won its best results since 2001, and regained its electoral dominance from the previous election in 2011. It was an unexpected blown away for the opposition parties as it was expected for the opposition’s presence in parliament to improve. Worker’s Party, the most successful opposition party in Singapore suffered too as many voters feared that it might outperform itself to the detriment of the incumbent party. This essay aims to study the factors that results in the ruling party’s landslide victory and regain its electoral dominance in GE2015, where electoral dominance refers to two thirds of the seats won by a party.
Keywords
Singapore, General Election 2015, PAP, WP, Lee Kwan Yew, Opposition parties,
Introduction
A political party is a group of people who has or wants political power by appealing to the masses with to support their campaigns, differentiating themselves from other parties by having disparate views, stands and focus. The Parliament of Singapore is unicameral which includes three types of Members of Parliament: elected Members of Parliament (MPs), Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs), and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs). Of these, MPs are chosen by universal suffrage or popular election under a "first-past-the-post" system, while NCMPs are chosen from among the candidates of political parties not forming the Government. In Singapore, People’s Action Party (PAP) has been successfully leading the country for 50 years and its rule was never challenged as much as it was in 2011’s general election. 2015 will be remembered by Singaporeans for its