The shock People's Action Party defeat in Singapore's Punggol East by-election, won over the weekend by the opposition Workers Party candidate Lee Li Lian with 54.5 percent of the vote, seems a watershed in the island republic's politics. Certainly it was a by-election, not a general one, so an opposition candidate could be expected to better than at the general election when the Workers Part candidate got only 43 percent of the vote. But a high turnout - 92 percent—indicates the degree of interest. The Workers Party was also helped by the fact that a second opposition candidate who got 4 percent of the vote in 2011 only received 0.5 percent this time. Also the PAP was smarting over adverse publicity relating to a controversy in which it abruptly pulled its electronic bookkeeping software out of a town council won last year by the opposition, after which the government red-flagged the council for keeping inadequate books.
Sea Change in Singapore Politics?
Sea Change in Singapore Politics?
Sea Change in Singapore Politics?
The shock People's Action Party defeat in Singapore's Punggol East by-election, won over the weekend by the opposition Workers Party candidate Lee Li Lian with 54.5 percent of the vote, seems a watershed in the island republic's politics. Certainly it was a by-election, not a general one, so an opposition candidate could be expected to better than at the general election when the Workers Part candidate got only 43 percent of the vote. But a high turnout - 92 percent—indicates the degree of interest. The Workers Party was also helped by the fact that a second opposition candidate who got 4 percent of the vote in 2011 only received 0.5 percent this time. Also the PAP was smarting over adverse publicity relating to a controversy in which it abruptly pulled its electronic bookkeeping software out of a town council won last year by the opposition, after which the government red-flagged the council for keeping inadequate books.