Singaporean general election, 1997
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83 seats (Plus 1 NCMP) to the Parliament of Singapore Only 36 seats contested 42 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 95.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Singapore |
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General elections were held in Singapore on 2 January 1997. 765,332 out of the eligible 1.8 million voters voted and selected their next government. The election results was released in the late evening that day and the ruling People's Action Party won a total of 81 out of 83 seats as well as a tenth consecutive term in office under the then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. Other major political parties contesting in the election were the Workers' Party, Singapore Democratic Party, National Solidarity Party, Singapore People's Party and the Democratic Progressive Party.
After nomination day on 23 December 1996, the People's Action Party returned to power with a total of 47 out of the total 83 seats and could form a government on nomination day. On polling day, voters voted for the election for their members of parliament with all but two seats going to the PAP. In this election, Group Representation Constituencies were increased from four members to five and six members. Housing issues were one of the issues raised during the election.
Background
This was another opportunity for Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to score a better mandate after PAP's considerably poorer showing in the 1991 election. Two seats in PAP-held Eunos and Toa Payoh GRCs were vacated after the death of MP, Dr Tay Eng Soon and inauguration of former Deputy PM Ong Teng Cheong as Singapore's fifth and first elected President in 1993 respectively. The former GRC, which twice saw narrow wins against WP, was dispersed into neighbouring constituencies.
Meanwhile, the main opposition, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was facing serious internal strife.
SDP Member of Parliament and former leader Chiam See Tong sued his party's central executive committee, including its new leader Dr Chee Soon Juan and one of its MPs, chairman Ling How Doong, for defamation, and won. Prior to nomination day, Chiam resigned from SDP and crossed over to its splinter party, Singapore People's Party. Two opposition candidates who came under heaviest fire from PAP were Dr Chee and Tang Liang Hong, who was standing on the WP ticket with its secretary-general J. B. Jeyaretnam. Tang was accused by PAP of being an anti-Christian Chinese chavunist. Group Representation Constituencies (GRC) went up from four to between four and six seats each. A National Solidarity Party team was disqualified from Tampines GRC after one candidate was found to have his name struck off the electoral rolls for not voting in 1991. For the first time, a Nominated MP – listed company director Chia Shi Teck – ran in an election.
Electoral boundaries
Constituency | Changes |
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Aljunied GRC | Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Eunos from Eunos GRC, Changkat South division from Tampines GRC (renamed to Changi-Simei), and portions of Serangoon Gardens division from Thomson GRC |
Ang Mo Kio GRC | Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Nee Soon South SMC, portions of Chong Boon division from Cheng San GRC, and portions of Serangoon Gardens division from Thomson GRC |
Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC | New Constituency Formed with Thomson GRC (and a small portion of Serangoon Gardens division) and Toa Payoh GRC, with Boon Teck and Kim Keat divisions absorbed to Toa Payoh Central division, and Kuo Chuan to Toa Payoh East division |
Bukit Timah GRC | New Constituency Formed with Bukit Batok, Bukit Timah, Jurong, Ulu Pandan and Yuhua SMCs, and parts of Clementi division from Brickworks GRC |
Cheng San GRC | Ward upsized to five members Punggol division was split into Punggol Central, Punggol East and Punggol South divisions Carved out Chong Boon division to Ang Mo Kio GRC and Cheng San division |
East Coast GRC | New Constituency Absorbed Joo Chiat division from Marine Parade GRC, Kaki Bukit division from Eunos GRC, Changi SMC and Bedok GRC Changi division was absorbed into Changi-Simei and Changkat South divisions |
Hong Kah GRC | Ward upsized to five members Absorbed a portion of Chua Chu Kang SMC (forming Yew Tee division) and Jurong SMC Hong Kah West division was split to include Nanyang division (which also absorbed a portion of Jurong SMC) |
Jalan Besar GRC | Kallang division was dissolved into Kolam Ayer, Jalan Besar, Whampoa and Kampong Glam wards |
Kreta Ayer-Tanglin GRC | New Constituency Formed with Cairnhill SMC, Kreta Ayer SMC, Tanglin SMC and portions of Kampong Glam GRC (except for Kampong Glam division, which was split into SMC) |
Marine Parade GRC | Ward upsized to six members Absorbed Braddell Heights and Mountbatten SMC, and portions of Serangoon Gardens division from Thomson GRC (forming Serangoon division) Carved out MacPherson division into SMC, and Joo Chiat division into East Coast GRC |
Pasir Ris GRC | New Constituency Absorbed Pasir Ris and portions of Tampines North division (renamed to Pasir Ris South) from Eunos GRC, while Pasir Ris division was split into Pasir Ris Central, Pasir Ris East and Pasir Ris Loyang divisions |
Sembawang GRC | Ward upzised to six members Bukit Panjang and Sembawang divisions were split to include Marsiling and Woodlands divisions, respectively |
Tampines GRC | Tampines West division was split to include Tampines Central division Carved a portion of Changkat South division to Aljunied GRC, while the rest absorbed to Tampines Changkat division |
Tanjong Pagar GRC | Ward upsized to six members Absorbed Brickworks and Queenstown division from Brickworks GRC, as well as Bukit Merah, Buona Vista and Leng Kee SMCs Carved out Telok Blangah division to West Coast GRC Brickworks division was absorbed into Pasir Panjang & Queenstown divisions |
West Coast GRC | New Constituency Formed with Telok Blangah division from Tanjong Pagar GRC, and Clementi & West Coast divisions from Brickworks GRC |
New and retiring candidates
Retiring Candidates | New Candidates |
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Ho Kah Leong (Jurong), 58 since 1966 Ch'ng Jit Koon (Tanjong Pagar GRC), 62 since 1968 Yeo Toon Chia (Ang Mo Kio GRC), 55 since 1970 Chin Harn Tong (Aljunied GRC), 59 since 1972 Lee Yiok Seng (Sembawang GRC), 57 since 1972 Ahmad Mattar (Brickworks GRC), 57 since 1972 S Dhanabalan (Toa Payoh GRC), 59 since 1976 Lau Teik Soon (Thomson GRC), 59 since 1976 Teo Chong Tee (Changi), 54 since 1976 Koh Lip Lin (Nee Soon South), 60 since 1979 S Chandra Das (Cheng San GRC), 57 since 1980 Yeo Ning Hong (Kampong Glam GRC), 53 since 1980 Lau Ping Sum (Ang Mo Kio GRC), 55 since 1980 Zulkifi Mohammad (Jalan Besar GRC), 48 since 1984 Arthur Beng (Bedok GRC), 47 since 1984 Peter Sung (Buona Vista), 56 since 1988 Umar Abdul Hamid (Ang Mo Kio GRC), 36 since 1991 | Ahmad Magad, 43 Ang Mong Seng, 47 Chan Soo Sen, 40 Chin Tet Yung, 45 David Lim Tik En, 41 Hawazi Daipi, 42 Heng Chee How, 35 Inderjit Singh, 36 Lily Neo, 43 Lim Hwee Hua, 37 Lim Swee Say, 42 Ong Ah Heng, 52 Peter Chen, 58 R Ravindran, 36 Seng Han Thong, 46 Tan Boon Wan, 48 Teo Ho Pin, 36 Toh See Kiat, 42 Yaacob Ibrahim, 41 Yeo Guat Kwang, 35 Zainul Abidin bin Mohammed Rasheed, 48 |
Timeline
- 23 November 1996: Ho Kah Leong and Lau Teik Soon retired from politics.
Results
With the Housing Development Board (public housing) upgrading scheme dangled as a pricy stake for voters, PAP reversed its electoral decline for the first time in four elections and since 1963, won back an opposition ward, recapturing the two SDP seats out of the four it had lost the last round. The PAP's share of the vote rose by 4 percentage points nationally. With Chiam See Tong's defection, SDP had no representation in Parliament since 1984. Low Thia Khiang, now WP assistant secretary-general, and Jeyaretnam as a Non-Constituency MP, returned to the legislature, the latter's last presence was previously in 1986.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
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People's Action Party | 465,751 | 65.0 | 81 | +4 |
Workers' Party | 101,544 | 14.2 | 1 | 0 |
Singapore Democratic Party | 76,129 | 10.6 | 0 | –3 |
National Solidarity Party | 48,322 | 6.7 | 0 | 0 |
Singapore People's Party | 16,746 | 2.3 | 1 | New |
Democratic Progressive Party | 5,043 | 0.4 | 0 | New |
Independents | 3,210 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 |
Invalid/blank votes | 17,255 | – | – | – |
Total | 734,000 | 100 | 83 | +2 |
Registered voters/turnout | 765,332 | 95.9 | – | – |
Source: Singapore Elections |
Aftermath
In June 1997, when Nominated MPs were re-appointed, the number was increased from six to nine.
Tang Liang Hong's self-imposed exile
After the election, Worker's Party candidate for Cheng San Group Representation Constituency, Tang Liang Hong was sued for defamation by several of the PAP's leaders, including Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Deputy Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and Tony Tan, who accused him of making statements during the campaign which falsely questioned their integrity. A total of 13 judgements were entered against Tang for defamation.
Tang left Singapore shortly after the election and eventually found refuge in Australia.
External links
- Official elections webpage – Elections Department Singapore
- Singapore-elections – a comprehensive archive of elections results, as well as past ones
Official websites of political parties
- National Solidarity Party
- People's Action Party, Manifesto (PDF)
- Singapore Malay National Organisation, (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura)
- Singapore Democratic Party, Manifesto
- Singapore People's Party, Manifesto
- Workers' Party of Singapore, Manifesto 2006