\n<\/p>\n
The last time Singapore held elections, it was in the throes of a global crisis. That\u2019s also true today.<\/p>\n
Five years ago, the governing party portrayed itself as the steady hand to guide the nation through the coronavirus pandemic. The pitch is the same this time, only with a different catalyst: President Trump\u2019s upending of the world\u2019s trade order.<\/p>\n
And, like last time, there is no doubt that the People\u2019s Action Party, which has been in power since 1959, will retain power. But Saturday\u2019s election will be a test of the popularity of the P.A.P., which had a near record-low showing in 2020, even as it garnered a clear majority. It was growing evidence of a desire for a competitive democracy in the city-state.<\/p>\n
When polls opened on Saturday morning, people stood in line to cast their ballot as heavy rain fell in parts of Singapore. The voting age is 21 here, and all citizens are required to vote. Polling stations close at 8 p.m. local time, and a final result is not expected until after midnight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Many political analysts agree that the opposition is gaining clout in Singapore, with voters unhappy about the P.A.P.\u2019s response to the rising cost of living. During the campaign, rallies for the country\u2019s main opposition party, the Workers\u2019 Party, were packed, and its merchandise sold out. Still, Pritam Singh, the party\u2019s leader, took pains to assure the public that his party was not contesting enough seats to form a government, merely that Singapore needed a more balanced political system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have opposition in Parliament, your alternative voice is heard by the government,\u201d Mr. Singh said at his party\u2019s first rally last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must be active participants in our democracy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The election is the first under Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who took office last year after the two-decade tenure of Lee Hsien Loong, a son of Singapore\u2019s founding father. Mr. Wong has said that navigating the trade war and U.S.-China tensions \u201cwill take people in government who have built up trust and close relationships with their counterparts in both America and China.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reiterated the same argument that his party has made for decades: that the P.A.P. has a track record of delivering stability and prosperity to this nation of nearly six million, one of the world\u2019s richest per capita.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The problem is, many average Singaporeans no longer feel prosperous. Singapore now has more millionaires<\/a> than London. While average wealth has more than doubled in local currency terms, median wealth has fallen 1.8 percent from 2008 to 2023, according to the Swiss bank UBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can see the gap growing quite substantially,\u201d said Kris Tan, 44, a personal trainer. His wife is a hawker, and he describes their family as lower to middle class. \u201cI am worried about our children\u2019s future in terms of housing, in terms of the cost of living for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Tan said he was also concerned about the growing elitism, which he says \u201cis getting more and more obvious with regards to the upper echelons of the government compared to the people.\u201d He referenced the million-dollar salaries that the country\u2019s ministers earn.<\/p>\n \u201cMy concern is that the government is bringing the country up,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s also leaving a lot of people behind.\u201d<\/p>\n In the last election, the P.A.P. won with one of the lowest vote shares in history and conceded a record 10 seats to the opposition. Since then, the government has bolstered social spending, giving temporary financial support to people who have been laid off and offering vouchers to help with daily expenses. But it has continued to face discontent over the rising cost of living, increases in the sales tax, and declining housing affordability, issues that the opposition has seized on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The opposition has widely criticized the P.A.P. for holding one of the world\u2019s shortest campaigning periods \u2014 nine days \u2014 and for gerrymandering by redrawing election boundaries in districts where they had made gains in the previous poll. The P.A.P. rejected the assertions, saying that the electoral boundaries review committee operates independently of the government.<\/p>\n In February, Mr. Singh was found guilty of lying under oath to Parliament, but voters shrugged it off. In a survey conducted by Blackbox Research in the weeks before the election, Mr. Singh had an approval rating of 71 percent, up seven points from the previous quarter. Mr. Wong was a touch ahead, with 75 percent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n