Fear of global instability drives in Singapore voters to rule the arms of people’s action party

Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has won a landslide in an election dominated by worries about the costs of living and the future economic stability of the country.

Led by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his first election Since he became party leader last year, The porridge took 65.6% of the votes and an overwhelming majority of the 97 seats in parliament.

Singaporese went to the polls on Saturday and was worried about inflation, wage stagnation and work perspectives.

The result will be generally seen as a flight to safety to the porridge in the midst of fear of global turbulence.

“Singapore feels particularly vulnerable, given the size and exposure of the economy to international armed forces … We are also notorious risk -avoiding voters,” said Ian Chong, associate professor of political sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The most important opposition, the Center-Linkse Workers’ Party (WP), did not succeed in catching more seats, but continued to hold its 10 seats in parliament.

The center -right porridge has continuously ruled Singapore since 1959, making it one of the longest ruling political parties in the world.

It has enjoyed a strong support from Singaporese, in particular from older generations that have seen the country flourish under PAP rule.

But although elections are free from fraud and irregularities, critics also say that the party is maintaining an unfair advantage through gerremwandering and a tightly controlled media.

In the last three polls prior to the result of Saturday, the porridge saw two of the lowest voice shares ever, while the WP increases in parliament.

But the result of Saturday saw the porridge return to shape, because voters gave Wong a strong mandate.

With its open globalized economy, Singapore saw inflation rising in recent years.

The government has attributed this to external factors such as the Ukraine and Gaza wars and disruptions of the supply chain. However, critics say that a controversial tax increase for goods and services has worsened it.

With the US-China Trade War and a 10% American rate, authorities and experts have warned of even more shocks for the economy and possibly a technical recession.

Against this background, the Pap campaign conducted a message of stability.

Wong repeatedly promised that his team would “send Singapore through the storm,” while he warned that if more opposition would be elected, he would lose capable ministers at a time when good governance was most needed.

It was a message that resounded with many voters. One Pap-Supporter, a start-up owner who only wanted to become known as Amanda, the BBC told that her company was affected by customers who pause some projects because of the economic climate.

“The headwind is not great, there is a lot of uncertainty … I want a party with experience (running the government),” she said.

Although the porridge has seen a series of scandals in recent years, Including one with a cabinet minister, This was hardly a talk point during the election period. Analysts said it was further from the heads of people, were more direct worried about the economy.

Some see the result as a sign of trust in Wong, which led the Covid Task Force of Singapore and became a familiar face when he regularly addressed the public during the pandemic.

“He has shown that he was able to, where the Covid Taskforce gave him credibility. He was the leading hand on that helm … and he projects that stability for future global financial uncertainties,” said Rebecca Tan, a political scientist teacher at Nus.

Wong is the first porridge prime minister to improve the voice share of the party in his first election. Previous PMs saw dips in the polls in what analysts used to call the “new PM” effect, or a reflection of the uncertainty of voters in a new leader.

The strong result of the porridge was also partly due to a fragmented opposition, with 10 parties that rose against them. With a few exceptions, the most did not perform badly.

Teo Kay Key, a researcher at the Think Tank Institute of Policy Studies, said that despite recent elections that showed that there was a desire for political diversity, the last result “shows that people are happy with the number of opposition nuts” for the time being.

But, she added, Singaporese also seem to be “more selective” now that when it comes to casting votes for the opposition, pointing to the performance of the WP.

The WP had campaigned on a platform to reduce the costs of living and to strengthen the safety net.

Although it did not win more seats, it also saw more voice shares in the constituencies it kept it and to close the fighting with the porridge in others, so that his status was confirmed as the strongest opposition party in the country.

It provided a robust performance despite recent controversial cases in which a former MP of Workers’ Party and WP leader Pritam Singh was involved, both of whom were found guilty of lying against parliament. Many in the support base of the WP believe that the case, especially against Singh, was politically motivated.

Singh approached that supporters were tackled shortly after the results for his constituency and acknowledged that “it would always be a difficult election”.

But he added: “The slate is wiped clean, we will start working again tomorrow and we are going again.”