Politics of Singapore

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The politics of Singapore takes the form of a parliamentary representative democratic republic whereby the President of Singapore is the head of state, the Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the cabinet from the parliament, and to a lesser extent, the President. Cabinet has the general direction and control of the Government and is accountable[1] to Parliament. Like many countries in the world today, there are three separate branches of government: the legislature, executive and judiciary, though not necessarily meaning that there is a separation of power, but abiding by the Westminster system.[2]


Political background[edit]

Singaporean politics have been dominated by the People's Action Party (PAP) since the 1959 general election when Lee Kuan Yew became Singapore's first prime minister (Singapore was then a self-governing state within the British Empire). The PAP has been in government and won every General Election since then. Singapore left the Commonwealth in 1963 to join the Federation of Malaysia, but was expelled from the Federation in 1965 after Lee Kuan Yew disagreed with the federal government in Kuala Lumpur.[3] Foreign political analysts and several opposition parties including the Workers' Party of Singapore and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) have argued that Singapore is a de facto one-party state.



Nuvola Singaporean flag.svg
Life in Singapore

Political climate[edit]

Although dominant in its activities, the government tries to show a clean, corruption-free image. Singapore has consistently been rated as the least-corrupt country in Asia and amongst the top ten cleanest in the world by Transparency International.[6][7] The World Bank's governance indicators have also rated Singapore highly on rule of law, control of corruption and government effectiveness. However, it is widely perceived that some aspects of the political process, civil liberties, and political and human rights are lacking.[8]

Although Singapore's laws are inherited from British and British Indian laws, including many elements of English common law, the PAP has also consistently rejected liberal democratic values, which it typifies as Western and states that there should not be a 'one-size-fits-all' solution to a democracy. Laws restricting the freedom of speech are justified by claims that they are intended to prohibit speech that may breed ill will or cause disharmony within Singapore's multiracial, multi-religious society. For example, in September 2005, three bloggers were convicted of sedition for posting racist remarks targeting minorities.[9] Some offences can lead to heavy fines or caning and there are laws which allow capital punishment in Singapore for first-degree murder and drug trafficking. Amnesty International has criticised Singapore for having "possibly the highest execution rate in the world" per capita.[10] The Singapore Government responded by asserting it had the right as a sovereign state to impose the death penalty for serious offences.[11]



Prior to 1991, the president was the head of state appointed by parliament and was largely a ceremonial role with some reserve powers. As a result of constitutional changes in 1991, the president is now directly elected to office for a six-year term by popular vote. The only directly-elected President since the constitutional change was Ong Teng Cheong, a former cabinet minister. He served as President from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999. A person is qualified to be a candidate for election as President if he:[12]

  • is a citizen of Singapore;
  • is 45 years old or above on Nomination Day;
  • is registered as an elector in the current registers of electors;
  • is resident in Singapore on Nomination Day and has been so for a total period not less than 10 years;
  • is not subject to any of the disqualifications specified in Article 45 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore;
  • has held office for a period of not less than 3 years in position of seniority and responsibility in the public or private sector as described below - as Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Auditor-General, Accountant-General or Permanent Secretary;


The president now exercises powers over the following:[13]

  • appointment of public officers
  • government budgets
  • examine government's exercise of its powers under the Internal Security Act
  • examine government's exercise of its powers under religious harmony laws
  • investigations into cases of corruption

However, the president must consult the Council of Presidential Advisers before he takes a decision on some of these matters. The council comprises:

  • two members appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister
  • one member appointed by the president on the advice of the chief justice
  • one member appointed by the president on the advice of the chairman of the Public Service Commission

A member of the council serves a six-year term and are eligible for re-appointment for further terms of four years each.[14]

Similar to the Speech from the Throne given by the heads of state in other parliamentary systems, the president delivers an address written by the government at the opening of parliament about what kind of policies to expect in the coming year. The current president is Tony Tan Keng Yam.


Main article: Cabinet of Singapore
Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore

The cabinet forms the executive of the government and it is answerable to parliament. It consist of sitting members of parliament and is headed by a prime minister, the head of government. The current prime minister is Lee Hsien Loong.

Neither the prime minister nor members of the cabinet are elected by parliament. The prime minister is appointed by the president, then Cabinet members, also known as ministers, are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.[15]

The cabinet in Singapore collectively decides the government's policies and has influence over lawmaking by introducing bills.

Ministers in Singapore are the highest paid politicians in the world, receiving a 60% salary raise in 2007 and as a result Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's pay jumped to S$3.1 million, five times the US$400,000 earned by US President Barack Obama. Although there was a public outcry regarding the high salary in comparison to the size of the country governed, the government's firm stance was that this raise was required to ensure the continued efficiency and corruption-free status of Singapore's "world-class" government.[16] On 21 May 2011, following the 2011 general election, the Prime Minister announced that a committee would be appointed to review politicians' remuneration, and that revised salaries would take effect from that date.



The unicameral Singaporean parliament is the legislature in Singapore with the president as its head.[17] Before independence in 1965, it was known as the Legislative Assembly. It currently consists of 87 members of parliament. The maximum term of any one parliament is five years, after which a general election must be held within three months of the dissolution of parliament.

The 87 elected members of parliament (MPs) are elected on a plurality voting basis and represent either single-member constituencies (SMCs) or group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). In GRCs, political parties field a team of between three to six candidates. At least one candidate in the team must belong to a minority race.[18]

Formerly, there were no GRCs, and all constituencies of Singapore were represented by one member, but amendments to the Parliamentary Elections Act in 1991 led to the creation of GRCs, thus creating a plurality voting system in the process.[19][20]

This development has led to complaints from opposition parties that they are often unable to field one, let alone three or more candidates. Out of the 87 members of parliament, 10 are female.[21] In the general election in 2006, the incumbent People's Action Party (PAP) won 82 of the 84 seats, with the same configuration as the previous election in 2001, but with a loss of 9% of the popular vote.[22] The final results of the 2011 general election saw a 6.46% swing against the PAP from the 2006 elections to 60.14%, its lowest since independence.[23]

The constitution also provides for the appointment of other members of parliament not voted in at an election. Up to six Non-Constituency Members of Parliament from the opposition political parties can be appointed.[18] Currently, there is one Non-Constituency Member of Parliament.

A constitutional provision for the appointment of up to nine Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) was made in 1990.[18] NMPs are appointed by the president for a term of two and a half years on the recommendation of a Select Committee chaired by the Speaker of Parliament and are not connected to any political parties. In 2005, nine NMPs were sworn in, out of which five were female.

Both non-constituency and nominated members of parliament cannot vote on the following issues:

Legislative process[edit]

Before any law is passed, it is first introduced in parliament as a draft known as a bill. Bills are usually introduced by a minister on behalf of the cabinet, known as Government Bill. However, any member of parliament can introduce a bill, known as a Private Member's Bill. All bills must go through three readings in parliament and receive the president's assent to become an Act of Parliament.

Each bill goes through several stages before it becomes a law. The first stage is a mere formality known as the first reading, where it is introduced without a debate. This is followed by the second reading, where members of parliament debate on the general principles of the bill. If parliament opposes the bill, it may vote to reject the bill.

If the bill goes through the second reading, the bill is sent to a Select Committee where every clause in the bill is examined. Members of parliament who support the bill in principle but do not agree with certain clauses can propose amendments to those clauses at this stage. Following its report back to parliament, the bill will go through its third reading where only minor amendments will be allowed before it is passed.

Most bills passed by parliament are scrutinised by the Presidential Council for Minority Rights which makes a report to the Speaker of Parliament stating whether there are clauses in a bill which affects any racial or religious community.[24] If approved by the council, the bill will be presented for the president's assent.

The last stage involves the granting of assent by the president, before the bill officially becomes a law.


The Constitution of Singapore is the supreme law of Singapore[25] and it is a codified constitution.

The constitution cannot be amended without the support of more than two-thirds of the members of parliament on the second and third readings.[25] The president may seek opinion on constitutional issues from a tribunal consisting of not less than three judges of the Supreme Court. Singaporean courts, like the courts in Australia, cannot offer advisory opinion on the constitutionality of laws.[26]

Part IV of the constitution guarantees the following:[27]

  1. liberty of a person
  2. prohibition of slavery and forced labour
  3. protection against retrospective criminal laws and repeated trials
  4. equal protection
  5. prohibition of banishment and freedom of movement
  6. freedom of speech, assembly and association
  7. freedom of religion
  8. right to education

The sections on liberty of the person and freedoms of speech, assembly, movement, association and religion are all qualified by allowing Parliament to restrict those freedoms for reasons including national security, public health, and "public order or morality". In practice, the courts have given complete discretion to the government in imposing such restrictions.

Part XII of the constitution allows the Parliament of Singapore to enact legislation designed to stop or prevent subversion. Such legislation is valid even if it is inconsistent with Part IV of the constitution. The Internal Security Act (ISA) is a legislation under such provision. In 1966, Chia Thye Poh was detained under the ISA and was imprisoned for 23 years without trial. Afterwards, he was placed under conditions of house arrest for another nine years.


Elections and political parties[edit]

For other political parties see List of political parties in Singapore. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Singapore.

Voting has been compulsory in Singapore since 1959[28] and there is universal suffrage. The legal voting age is 21. The Elections Department of Singapore is responsible for the planning, preparation and conduct of presidential and parliamentary elections and of any national referendum in Singapore. It is a department under the Prime Minister's Office.

Paper ballots are still used in Singapore. However, there is a concern[citation needed] that voting secrecy might be compromised as ballot papers have serial numbers on them. As stated in the Elections Department website:[29]

"...ballot papers can be examined only under strict conditions, and there are safeguards that make it extremely difficult to find out how any particular voter voted. After the count, all ballot papers and their counterfoils have to be sealed in the Supreme Court vault for six months, after which all the ballot papers and other election documents are destroyed. During those six months, these documents can only be retrieved by court order. The court will issue such an order only if it is satisfied that a vote has been fraudulently cast and the result of the election may be affected as a result. Our courts have issued no such order since elections have been held here since 1948."

People's Action Party[edit]

The PAP has been the dominant political party in Singapore, re-elected continuously since 1959. It is headed by Lee Hsien Loong, who succeeded Goh Chok Tong. Goh's predecessor Lee Kuan Yew served as Singapore's prime minister from independence through 1990. Since stepping down as prime minister, Lee remained influential as Senior Minister and Minister Mentor.

PAP has held the overwhelming majority of seats in parliament since 1966, when the opposition Barisan Sosialis Party resigned from parliament and left the PAP as the sole representative party. PAP won all of the seats in an expanding parliament in the general elections of 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980. PAP's share of the popular vote in contested seats declined from 78% in 1980 to 65% in 1997. However, the elections of 2001 saw the party's share of the popular vote climb to 75%, winning 82 of the 84 seats. Singapore general election, 2006 marked the first time since 1988 the PAP did not return to power on nomination day, with the opposition parties fielding candidates in over half of the constituencies. Overall PAP saw its share of the vote fall to 66.6%.

Opposition parties[edit]

There are two opposition parties in Parliament - The Workers' Party and the Singapore People's Party. J.B. Jeyaretnam of the Workers' Party became the first opposition party member of parliament in 15 years when he won a 1981 by-election. Despite acquiring an increasing percentage of the popular vote—34% overall in 2006—opposition parties gained small numbers of seats in the general elections of 1984 (2 seats of 79), 1988 (1 seat of 81), 1991 (4 seats of 81), 1997 (2 seats of 83) and 2001 (2 seats of 84). The opposition parties attribute the disproportionate results to the nature of the GRC electoral system.

As of July 2015, the Worker's Party holds 7 of 87 elected seats. It also holds 2 Non-constituency MP (NCMP) seats. The other NCMP seat is held by the Singapore People's Party.[30]

Other opposition parties not represented in Parliament include the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Women's participation in politics[edit]

Women traditionally played a significantly smaller role than their male counterparts in Singapore. Nonetheless, in recent years, there is an increasing level of female participation in the Singapore political arena.

On 26 January 2013, Ms Lee Li Lian became the second woman from an opposition party to win a seat in Parliament by 3182 votes over the ruling party's candidate, Dr Koh Poh Koon, in a by-election in Punggol East, after Sylvia Lim Swee Lian, currently the Chairperson of the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and an elected Member of Parliament (MP) representing Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (Aljunied GRC) whose team won 54.71% of the votes (54.72% including overseas votes), the first time that an opposition party won a GRC since the system's introduction on 1 June 1988. Lim's victory made her the first female opposition MP in Singapore's post-independence history.[31]

Shirt colours[edit]

The candidates and supporters of the various political parties tend to wear the following shirt colours while making their rounds in various wards or campaigning.

Party Shirt Colour
PAP logo variation.png People's Action Party White
WP logo variation.png Workers' Party Light Blue
Spp-logo-2.png Singapore People's Party Red and White
SDP logo variation.png Singapore Democratic Party Red
NSP logo variation.png National Solidarity Party Orange
RP logo variation.png Reform Party Yellow
SDA logo variation.png Singapore Democratic Alliance Bright Green
DPP logo variation.png Democratic Progressive Party White and Orange
SFP logo variation.png Singaporeans First Blue
People's Power Party Light Purple


Human rights activists, foreign scholars and opposition party members have pointed out that members of the opposition parties often suffer "misfortunes" of various kinds, including arrest, sued into bankruptcy especially in defamatory lawsuits, and imprisonment,[32] with the convictions and bankruptcy in turn barring the opposition candidates from standing in elections.[33]

Kenneth Paul Tan[34] has said that "Singapore's formal institutions of representative government are a colonial legacy, fundamentally based on the Westminster system of parliamentary government. In Singapore, the executive has greater power than the legislature. Regularly held political elections since 1959, run according to the simple plurality voting system, have seen the PAP remain in power and a very small number of elected opposition parliamentarians. With an overwhelming majority in parliament, the PAP government has been able to amend the Constitution without much obstruction, introducing multi-member constituencies, unelected parliamentary membership, and other institutional changes that have, in effect, strengthened the government's dominance and control of Parliament."[35]

"With incumbency comes electoral advantages that have further secured the PAP's position. From this powerful location, it has effectively propagated the idea that it is more important for a small country with limited resources and talent to have a meritocratic, pragmatic and economically-orientated government than one that is limited by principles of accountability, transparency and checks and balances."[36]


See also[edit]


  1. ^ https://www.mlaw.gov.sg/our-legal-system.html
  2. ^ https://www.parliament.gov.sg/organisation-structure
  3. ^ Worthington, Ross (2002). Governance in Singapore. Routledge/Curzon. ISBN 0-7007-1474-X. 
  4. ^ "Worldwide Press Freedom Index". Retrieved 2006-04-13. 
  5. ^ "Resolution: Singapore Case N SIN/01 - Joshua Jeyaretnam". Inter-Parliamentary Union. 23 March 2002. 
  6. ^ "Transparency International — Corruption Perceptions Index 2005". Retrieved 2006-04-13. 
  7. ^ "Corruption Surveys and Indices". Transparency International website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  8. ^ "Governance Indicators: 1996-2004". World Bank website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  9. ^ "Third racist blogger sentenced to 24 months supervised probation". Channel NewsAsia. 23 November 2005. 
  10. ^ "Amnesty International". The death penalty: A hidden toll of executions. Retrieved 7 June 2005. 
  11. ^ "The Singapore Government's Response To Amnesty International's Report "Singapore — The Death Penalty: A Hidden Toll Of Executions"". Retrieved 2006-04-13. 
  12. ^ "Singapore Elections Department". Retrieved 2013-09-18. 
  13. ^ "The Presidency in Singapore". Istana website. Retrieved 2006-07-31. 
  14. ^ "Council of Presidential Advisers". Istana website. Archived from the original on 7 March 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  15. ^ "The Executive". Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  16. ^ Singapore announces 60 percent pay raise for ministers - International Herald Tribune
  17. ^ "About Us". Parliament of Singapore website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  18. ^ a b c "The Legislature". Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  19. ^ "Parliamentary Elections Act". Singapore Statutes Online. Retrieved 2006-05-08. 
  20. ^ "Legislation history". Singapore Statutes Online. Retrieved 2006-05-08. 
  21. ^ "List of current ministers". Parliament of Singapore website. Retrieved 8 May 2006. 
  23. ^ Brown, Kevin (8 May 2011). "Singapore opposition makes historic gains". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 May 2011. 
  24. ^ "Law Making". Singapore Parliament website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  25. ^ a b "The Republic and the Constitution". Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  26. ^ "The Judiciary". Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  27. ^ "Fundamental Liberties". Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  28. ^ "Singapore voter turnout". International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance website. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  29. ^ "Ballot Secrecy". Elections Department of Singapore website. Archived from the original on 26 March 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2006. 
  30. ^ "Elections in Singapore". Electionworld website (Internet Archive copy). Archived from the original on 6 February 2005. Retrieved 29 January 2005. 
  31. ^ Sylvia Lim#2011 General Election
  32. ^ "Election Strategy and Ethnic Politics in Singapore" (PDF). Retrieved 9 November 2011. 
  33. ^ Chee, Soon Juan. "Singapore is taking the first steps to true democracy". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2015. 
  34. ^ http://www.singapolitics.sg/supperclub/kenneth-paul-tan-one-party-system-may-lack-resilience
  35. ^ a b Tan, Kenneth Paul (2012). "The Ideology of Pragmatism: Neo-liberal Globalisation and Political Authoritarianism in Singapore". Journal of Contemporary Asia 42 (1): 67–92. doi:10.1080/00472336.2012.634644. 
  36. ^ Tan, Kenneth Paul (2007). "Singapore's National Day Rally speech: A site of ideological negotiation". Journal of Contemporary Asia 37 (3): 292–308. doi:10.1080/00472330701408635. 

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