2006 Singaporean general election

Elections to the 11th Parliament of Singapore

General elections were held in Singapore on 6 May 2006. President S. R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 20 April 2006 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong three weeks before the election. The People's Action Party (PAP) won 66.6% of the overall votes and gained 82 out of 84 seats. The PAP held the office of Prime Minister for a twelfth consecutive term. The general election was held under the first past the post system. On Nomination Day, the PAP gained 37 seats in divisions which were uncontested by other parties. The main election issues included employment, cost of living, housing, transport, education, the need for an effective opposition voice in parliament, and the quality of the candidates. The elections marked the first time since 1988 that the total eligible voter population in contested seats and voter turnout exceeded one million. Together with 2011 GE, PAP also decided not to return the mandate on Nomination Day but on the Election Day.

The 2006 General Election was the 15th General Election in Singapore and the 10th since independence in 1965. The governing People's Action Party (PAP) sought to secure their twelfth consecutive term in office since 1959. This would be the first election since Lee Hsien Loong replaced Goh Chok Tong and became PAP's Secretary General in 2004.

Besides the ruling PAP, the other major political parties were the Workers' Party of Singapore (WP) led by Low Thia Khiang, the Singapore People's Party (SPP) led by Chiam See Tong, the National Solidarity Party (NSP) led by Steve Chia, and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) led by Chee Soon Juan, who himself was ineligible to run in this election because of a 2002 conviction. Four parties, including the SPP and the NSP, contested the election as members of the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA).

For this election, the deposit for each candidate was set at S$13,500 (approximately US$8,590 or £4,620) which was about 8% of the total annual salary to a member of parliament in the preceding year, rounded to the nearest S$500. The regulations of the elections stated that the deposit was to be forfeited if the candidate failed to obtain at least one eighth of the votes.

A total of 49 candidates made their debut among which include notable PAP candidates include Grace Fu, Lui Tuck Yew, Josephine Teo and Masagos Zulkifli, while WP introduced their party's chairwoman Sylvia Lim (who would later become the first ever female opposition MP elect in the next election), as well as James Gomez (now SDP member) and Goh Meng Seng (who later founded the People's Power Party). A total 24 candidates did not seek re election, among which were former cabinet ministers Lee Yock Suan and former Speaker of Parliament Tan Soo Khoon, as well as Tan Cheng Bock and Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Tony Tan, though they would later return to compete in the 2011 presidential election five years later in which the latter won; the former would later return to the political fray in the 2020 elections as a founder of Progress Singapore Party.

On 17 February 2006, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was also Minister for Finance and Secretary General of the PAP, delivered the country's Budget Statement to the Parliament. He released details of a S$2.6 billion "progress package" including S$500 million for Central Provident Fund top ups, S$400 million for workfare bonuses, and S$200 million bonuses for national servicemen. Largely due to this package, the 2006 Budget incurred a deficit of S$2.86 billion. Low Thia Khiang (WP) came out strongly against the progress package which he said was no more than a vote winning tool for the PAP. Low called for greater transparency on how the government intend to finance the package and to compensate for the budget shortfall. Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng (PAP) later dismissed claims that the progress package constitutes a form of vote buying.

The Workers' Party (WP) was the first party to launch an update to its manifesto on 14 January 2006. Among its policy proposals, WP called for the Presidency to revert to its former ceremonial role and the abolishment of the GRCs, the Ethnic Integration Policy for Housing and Development Board flats, the Resident Committees and the Citizen Consultative Committees. It also revealed its intentions to establish a central agency in the provision of public transport, set up of a national unemployment insurance scheme and a more comprehensive national health insurance scheme among a host of other things. On 21 January, PAP made various criticisms on the WP's proposals, describing four of their proposals as "four time bombs [which] will weaken and tear Singapore apart". Khaw Boon Wan, revealed various changes in medical policies, including the Medisave scheme, which had been a constant target for criticism by opposition parties. He also chided the WP for its "failure to understand what makes inter racialism work in Singapore and why we are different from the rest of the world", referring the four points brought up by Ng Eng Hen as "poisons" Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim released a press statement on 22 January, responding to each of the four "time bombs" criticised by Ng and adding that the party was standing firmly by its manifesto.

On 19 March, Lee Hsien Loong said that PAP was aiming to win all the constituencies including the two opposition wards in Hougang SMC and Potong Pasir SMC, stating that "We want to win, this is not masak masak [a Malay term meaning a child's game]". The PAP candidates for these two wards were respectively previously contested candidates Eric Low and Sitoh Yih Pin respectively, and both candidates had been working the ground in these wards since along with assistance by Goh Chok Tong who had been given the special assignment to help the PAP win the two wards. Goh had suggested that if Low and Sitoh won the election, they would be given extra latitude when speaking and voting in parliament and not be subjected to the political Whip, and he would also help Sitoh to gain a post in the new Cabinet if elected. Hougang and Potong Pasir residents were also promised housing upgrades worth $100 million and $80 million respectively if PAP was to retake the two seats as both of these constituencies have not been selected for housing upgrades or provided with lifts that stop on every floor due to the constituencies being held by the opposition. When the PAP shaved Low's vote share from 58% to 55% in the 2001 General Election, Goh offered to upgrade Hougang estate if the share was reduced to 52%.

In April 2006, the SDP published an article headlined "Govt's role in the NKF scandal" in the SDP party newspaper The New Democrat regarding the National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal. On 22 April, letters of demand were served on twelve members of the SDP and the publisher. Drew and Napier, the law firm acting for Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Kuan Yew, said that the newspaper article had alleged that the two Lees were "dishonest and unfit for office", that Lee Kuan Yew "devised a corrupt political system for the benefit of the political elite", and that he managed the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation in a "corrupt manner". In addition, according to the letter of demand, the newspaper also alleged that Lee Hsien Loong had "perpetuated a corrupt political system for the benefit of the political elite" and how he and his Government "had access to the information which has now been unearthed about NKF but corruptly concealed and covered up the facts to avoid criticism". The letters demanded that damages be paid and an apology made in the media by 25 April. Four of SDP's eleven committee members apologized shortly after, while the party's chairman refused to do so, as it would constitute "an admission of guilt". An apology had been formally rejected by the party, though the party would not oppose individual members making personal apologies. M Ravi, the lawyer representing most of the accused, had rejected claims made in the letters that allegations made in the paper were "highly defamatory", and he "[does] not see how a government or public body could be defamed". On 27 April, Chee said that the threat of legal action was already seriously affecting SDP's campaign at Sembawang GRC: "Lawyers for Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Lee Hsien Loong have gone as far as to sue the printer, so much so that he is so frightened he dares not publish our election material." SDP was still seen selling the publication, and the Lees were seeking aggravated damages; the Chee siblings however, have yet to do so.

On 25 April, the Elections Department warned SDP that it would take action against the party if they did not remove audio files and podcasts from the party's website, as they were against election advertising regulations under the Parliamentary Elections Act. Within hours after the notice was issued, SDP posted a notice on its website that the podcast service was suspended.

As early as January 2006, when it became clear that the election would be held soon, the political parties began making definitive plans for Nomination Day. On 10 March 2006, major opposition parties hosted a meeting, after which they announced their intention to contest 57 of the 84 seats in Parliament, but full details of the opposition's plan was not revealed until Nomination Day itself. Steve Chia told reporters, "Any self respecting politician will hold his cards close to his chest." There were nine Single Member Constituencies for the election. For smaller political parties and independents who do not have sufficient candidates and resources to contest the GRCs, the SMCs were the only constituencies that they could afford to run; many analysts cited that opposition candidates stand a greater chance of winning in SMCs as compared to GRCs, and all nine SMCs were expecting contests. The opposition tried to avoid three cornered fights by co ordinating with each other. Chiam See Tong (SPP) said that "if we enter into one [three cornered fight], we're only going to kill ourselves. We're not that stupid." In March 2006, it was thought that there could be a potential three way contest in MacPherson SMC, where both Mansor Rahman, Chairman of Democratic Progressive Party, and Sin Kek Tong, Chairman of Singapore People's Party, cited interest to run for that seat, but both members eventually chose not to contest. Tan Lead Shake, ex Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member, later joined the National Solidarity Party (NSP) (under the banner in Singapore Democratic Alliance), and became a member of SDA's team contesting Tampines GRC. As of 26 April 2006, the opposition had indicated that they would contest at least half of the seats in the 84 member Parliament; 47 PAP candidates standing for election with 10 new candidates facing the opposition. Candidates standing for election had only an hour to present their nomination papers and must be accompanied by their proposers, seconders and assentors. Observers projected that the other 37 candidates from seven Group Representative Constituencies would return unopposed and the PAP would be denied a majority on nomination day, an eventuality that proved to be true.

Some of the opposition parties, such as Workers' Party and Singapore Democratic Alliance, adopted the strategy of announcing early their plans on which constituencies they intended to contest prior to announced changes in electoral boundaries, as a tactical move to earmark those divisions to discourage any third party from contesting in the same divisions leading to three cornered fights. Another cited reason was that, if the Government electoral commission redrew those boundaries, the opposition would be able to exploit such actions by accusing the PAP of gerrymandering to avoid the ballot challenge.

With the nominations completed, the opposition was contesting 47 seats with the remaining 37 returned to the PAP, resulting in PAP being prevented a walkover majority to form a government on nomination day for the first time since 1988. Between 28 April to 5 May, a total of 50 political rallies were held by the parties at 24 designated sites during nine days of campaign. The "Lunchtime Rally Site" at Boat Quay, next to UOB Plaza, made a comeback in the election; it was removed from the list of rally sites in the previous election due to fears of terrorist attacks after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Workers' Party had put up their strongest team, consisting of its more prominent candidates led by chairman Sylvia Lim, to contest Aljunied GRC challenging the PAP team led by Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo. The constituency eventually had the fiercest GRC contest in the election. The strongest GRC team for the SDA was one contesting Jalan Besar GRC. It was led by Sebestian Teo and its members include former MP Cheo Chai Chen. Workers' Party fielded a very young team in Ang Mo Kio GRC, with candidates mostly born after 1965, to compete with the flagship PAP team led by Lee Hsien Loong. On 29 April 2006, Lee referred to his opponents at Ang Mo Kio GRC as "敢死队" (suicide squad). In response, Low Thia Kiang said that it was better to be a "敢死队" (suicide squad) and not a "怕死队" (squad that is scared to die). WP's candidate Yaw Shin Leong added that his teammates and himself were mentally prepared to lose but they were not push overs.

Controversy arose during the election surrounding the application for a minority race candidate certificate by James Gomez of Workers' Party. On 24 April, Gomez went to the Elections Department to fill up the minority race candidate certificate application form accompanied by the chairperson Sylvia Lim. Instead of handing in the application form to election official, Gomez slipped the form in his bag and went off for an interview. At the time, Sylvia Lim had gone to a waiting area and did not witness the event. On the eve of Nomination Day, James Gomez went to collect his minority race candidate certificate claiming he had submitted the application form. After failing to get the certificate, Gomez warned an elections officer of the "consequences". At 1pm that day, an Elections Department staff called Gomez and told him that he did not submit the Indian and minority candidate certificate form. During the call, which was recorded, Gomez changed his story and said that he would get back to them. When the media asked him about the issue, Gomez initially refused to discuss about the issue, but later conceded. Following two days of dispute between both sides, the Elections Department was able to produce video evidence showing that James Gomez did not submit the application form; a day later, James Gomez apologised to the Elections Department at a Worker's Party rally saying he was distracted by his busy schedule. During the controversy, PAP raised questions about the credibility of Gomez. He was accused of attempting to discredit the Elections Department by claiming they misplaced the form. Two PAP leaders Wong Kan Seng and Lee Kuan Yew called Gomez a "liar" and Lee dared Gomez to sue him and Wong. George Yeo (PAP) also suggested that the Worker's Party should sack Gomez and field a four member team for the five member Group Representation Constituency. This was rejected by Low who asserted that PAP was trying to divert public and media attention from main election issues.

On both 29 April 2006 and 4 May 2006, the four contesting parties made their political broadcasts over television and radio in the four official languages – the English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil languages. Each party was given an allocated time based on the number of candidates it fielded. The People's Action Party (PAP) was given 12 minutes with 84 candidates fielded, the Workers' Party (WP) and Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) were given 4.5 minutes each with 20 candidates fielded, and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was given 2.5 minutes with 7 candidates fielded. The SDP was represented by Chee Siok Chin, the Workers' Party by Sylvia Lim on the first broadcast and by Tan Hui Hua on the second broadcast, the SDA by Chiam See Tong on both broadcasts, with the PAP by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the first broadcast and by PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng on the second broadcast.

The upgrading of public housing, including the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP), was a major issue in this election. As in previous elections, PAP had tied the scheduling of housing upgrades to the number of votes the party received in the election. The PAP argued that government was successful in raising the standard of living in the country, and those who supported its various policies, including the upgrading, should be given priority. In the hotly contested Aljunied GRC, George Yeo (PAP) placed lift upgrading the "top of [his] priority list" so that the lift would stop on every floor in as many blocks as possible. Sylvia Lim (WP) accused the PAP of being selective in its upgrading programmes, arguing that this was a divisive policy.

The election featured large turnouts at some of the election rallies of the opposition parties, which was unheard of since the 1980s. A report by Malaysian press The Star estimated that around 10,000 people attended the Workers' Party rally on 30 April at Hougang. At the last rally of the Workers' Party at Serangoon Stadium on 5 May, the audience filled up most of the field and even spilled outside the stadium. However, the local media did not report on the large turnout at all, prompting criticism of the credibility of the Singapore media on local political issues. The PAP dismissed the significance of the crowds, suggesting that crowd size would not necessarily translate into votes.

On 7 May, Gomez was detained by police at Singapore Changi Airport when he was about to take a flight to Sweden for work. The police were investigating an "alleged offences of criminal intimidation and providing false information". The Elections Department had earlier filed a police report regarding the incident during the election period in which Gomez spoke to an election official in a threatening tone, an episode that was caught on closed circuit television. Gomez was brought to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at Police Cantonment Complex for questioning and to file his statement, after which he was released at midnight. His passport was impounded by the police to prevent him from leaving the country and his air ticket was forfeited as it was non refundable. He also suffered a loss of income due to his absence from work. On that night, Sylvia Lim and Low Thia Khiang were also asked to give statements at the CID. On 9 May, Gomez was called again to CID for a questioning session that lasted five hours. Gomez later told the media that he was giving the police "the fullest cooperation." After three questioning sessions, Gomez was let off with a stern warning by the police who issued a statement stating that the public prosecutor was satisfied that Gomez had committed the offence of using threatening words towards a civil servant but the police decided to release Gomez as he had no prior criminal records. His passport was returned to him and he left for Sweden on 16 May.

The new cabinet was inaugurated on 30 May 2006. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reveal lineup in which Raymond Lim relinquished his roles as Second Minister for Finance and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office for a new ministerial portfolio for Transport succeeding Yeo Cheow Tong. Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam was given another role as Second Minister for Finance, while Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan was given a second post as Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts as he relinquished his Second Minister for Trade and Industry. Five new candidates, Lui Tuck Yew, Lee Yi Shyan, Grace Fu, Teo Ser Luck and Masagos Zulkifli, along with three returning MPs, S Iswaran, Amy Khor and Zainudin Nordin, were promoted as Minister of State or Parliamentary secretaries in political office. Senior Minister of State Balaji Sadasivan relinquished his position as Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Health for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, but remained as Senior Minister for State for the MICA. Heng Chee How took Balaji's place as Senior Minister of State for Health; he relinquished his appointments in the Ministry of National Development and Mayor for the Central Community Development Council. Zainul Abidin Rasheed was appointed Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Koo Tsai Kee as Minister of State for Defence.

The Internet played a much more significant role compared to previous general elections. Singapore has a large number of computer users, with 74% of households owning computers and 2 in 3 households having Internet access. Podcasts, blogs, and online political discussions have become common in Singaporean cyberspace. A blog called "SGRally" was set up to collect recorded rally speeches in this election. Opposition candidates had complained about insufficient rally sites allocated to them in past elections. In August 2005, Singapore Democratic Party became the first political party in Singapore to launch a podcast called RadioSDP on its party website. Several members of the Workers' Party are active in blogsphere; the notable bloggers are James Gomez, Goh Meng Seng, and Melvin Tan. On 25 February 2006, the Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore organised a public forum on politics titled "The (In)Significance of Political Elections in Singapore?" Among the speakers were 2nd Assistant Secretary General of Workers' Party James Gomez, Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Geh Min, and former NMP Chandra Mohan. A recording of the forum is available via podcast.

Regulation of political content online was an issue throughout the election period. The Media Development Authority (MDA) had reminded Internet content providers to comply with the law of Singapore, including those relating to political content. Online bloggers and podcasts are subject to the Parliamentary Elections Act. In a notification issued by MDA under the Broadcasting Act, all political websites are required to register with the MDA. These websites include those belonging to political parties as well as to "individuals, groups, organisations and corporations engaged in providing any programme for the propagation, promotion or discussion of political or religious issues relating to Singapore on the World Wide Web through the Internet." A MDA spokesperson said that only a handful of websites have registered and that they mostly belonged to political parties or registered political associations. Political analyst Cherian George noted that the regulation would hinder the development of citizen journalism in Singapore. A number of bloggers and political commentators had noted that the rules are too broadly defined and were unsure how they would be enforced. They protested that this was a violation of freedom of speech. A candidate Goh Meng Seng (WP) refused to register his blog, saying "I don't see the need to do so as an individual citizen. We have our rights to our political views." In a parliament session on 3 April 2006, Balaji Sadasivan, the senior minister of state for information, communications and the arts, made some clarification on the regulation in response to a question by Low Thia Khiang. Balaji said that podcasting and streaming of videos were prohibited during the election. On the other hand, pictures of election candidates, political party histories and manifestos were allowed to be used as election advertising on the Internet. He added that bloggers who persistently promoted political views had to register with the MDA. During elections, only political parties, candidates and election agents are allowed to advertise. Balaji warned that those who violate the rules would face prosecution, and said "In a free for all internet environment, where there are no rules, political debate could easily degenerate into an unhealthy, unreliable and dangerous discourse, flush with rumours and distortions to mislead and confuse the public." The regulation of political content on the Internet had previously led to the closing down of a popular discussion forum website Sintercom in 2001, after the owner refused to register with the authority and voluntarily shut down his website. Additionally, publication of election surveys during the election period or exit polls was banned.