Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong won a strong mandate from the people in the general election held on Saturday as his People's Action Party (PAP) got 66.6 percent of the valid votes, but he is also facing stronger opposition parties who retained their two wards with a larger margin of victory.

Established in 1954, the PAP has won all the general elections and stayed in power since Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965. It secured 82 of the 84 parliamentary seats in this election, the same as it did in the last one in 2001.

Historically, PAP's good track record of building up a city state with no natural resources and hinterland to a developed country and regional center in the past 40 year has undoubtedly won people's trust in its capability and credibility.

Lee took a series of measures such as economic restructuring and job re-designing after he assumed the top position in August 2004, making Singapore's economy rebound robustly after being severely hit by the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States in 2001 and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

The city state's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 8.4 percent and 6.4 percent year-on-year in 2004 and 2005 respectively while the unemployment rate dropped to 2.5 percent in December 2005 with an employment increase of over 113,000 last year.

In his budget speech in February this year, Lee, who is also the Minister for Finance, earmarked 2.6 billion Singapore dollars (about 1.6 billion U.S. dollars) as the Progress Package to share the economic growth with every Singaporean, with an emphasis on older and low-income workers as well as needy families. More than half of Singapore's estimated 4 million population have received their bonus of up to 2,600 Singapore dollars (about 1,650 U.S. dollars) by May 1.

The PAP also promised to create opportunities for Singaporeans, give the young the best start, encourage every citizen to play a role, do more for lower income Singaporeans, help older citizens to lead full and active lives, as well as to provide affordable healthcare for all, which are stated in the party's election manifesto.

PAP's victory in this watershed general election, as called by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, showed that people have accepted Lee and his colleagues as the country's new leadership team and endorsed their policies on leading Singapore forward in the next 15 to 20 years.

The party's efforts to attract the younger generation also contributed to its victory in the election, as Lee said at a press conference held early Sunday morning, shortly after the election results were released, that PAP's programs and team have struck a chord with younger voters who know what is at stake and have voted sensibly.

According to statistics, voters who were born after Singapore's independence in 1965 account for about 40 percent of the total number of electors in this poll. They have different education, experience, viewpoints and needs from the older ones.

The PAP introduced 24 new candidates, including seven women, for this election whose average age is 40.3 years, signaling its resolution to hear and better address young people's concerns.

While Lee and his PAP are celebrating their strong hold in the general election, the fact that the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) have kept their respective constituencies with an even larger margin of victory should not be ignored.

Despite such carrots as estate and lift upgrading projects of millions of U.S. dollars offered by the ruling PAP with an aim to win back one or both of the two wards, voters there still chose an opposition candidate as Member of Parliament (MP) to represent and speak for them.

One reason is that the two opposition candidates are deep- rooted in their respective constituencies, as WP's secretary general Low Thia Khiang has been MP for Hougang since 1991 and SDA 's chairman Chiam See Tong has served residents in Potong Pasir as MP for the past 22 years. Even Lee Hsien Loong called them " credible people with standing on the ground."

The other reason is that they put forward issues that residents care about such as the increasing cost of living, the high healthcare cost and residents' co-payment in lift upgrading in their housing estate.

Analysts here said that the election results showed Singaporeans' hope to have an opposition as a check to the PAP and its government in a supplementary and constructive way, which should not hinder Singapore's prosperous future and their stable lives.

In addition, the WP with 20 candidates scored a higher percentage of votes in this general election than in the last one due to the organized image of the party and its young and better- quality slate of candidates.

The WP will continue to attract the younger generation and present more candidates in the following general elections, said party leader Low, who announced Saturday night after the election that the renewal process of the WP is on track.

The election has ended and Prime Minister Lee called on all Singaporeans to close ranks, stay together and move ahead. However, the opposition parties are determined to grow their strength to contest the PAP in the face of the changing demographics and social environment.

Source: Xinhua