Voters queue to cast their ballots at a polling station in Singapore on Saturday during an election overwhelmingly won by the ruling People’s Action Party. Photo by Simon Lim/EPA-EFE
May 3 (UPI) — Inflation, the cost of living and economic stability concerns propelled Singapore’s conservative People’s Action Party to a landslide election win on Saturday.
The PAP and its leader, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, secured 65.6% of the vote and a large majority of 97 seats in the Singaporean Parliament, the BBC reported.
The election results “put Singapore in a better position to face this turbulent world,” Wong said in a post-election address to the city-state.
“It’s a clear sign of trust, stability and confidence in your government,” Wong told the TV audience. “Singaporeans, too, can draw strength from this and look ahead to the future.”
Wong became Singapore’s prime minister last year, and the election partly served as a gauge of voter support for his policies and those supported by the PAP.
“Singapore feels particularly vulnerable given its economy’s size and exposure to international forces,” Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, told the BBC.
Chong said Singapore’s voters are “risk-averse,” which enabled the PAP to maintain its control of Singapore’s government.
The PAP has been the majority party within Singapore’s government since 1959. The center-left Workers’ Party is its primary opposition and held onto its 10 seats in the Singaporean Parliament.
Older voters are especially prone to voting for the PAP after living under its governance for more than six decades.
The WP hoped to gain seats in Saturday’s election due to the PAP receiving its lowest support in years during the prior three elections, while the WP gained support.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic led to the PAP’s erosion of voter support during the 2020 election, but Saturday’s election reversed the trend.
Current regional and global issues, including a trade war between China and the United States and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, have raised concerns of a potential recession in Singapore.
Wong campaigned on a platform offering stability and good governance, which voters embraced.