PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION 2006

PAP's second handover of power to a third Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong could see an uphill task for the long-dominating ruling party to maintain continued hegemony if GE1991 results were anything to go by, where his predecessor, now Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, first assumed leadership and PAP lost four seats. Adding to the challenge were opposition parties being in a better shape than before and carried out preparations earlier. Rarely seen was the fact that all contests were pure straight fights yet the opposition fielded enough candidates to deny PAP's return to power on nomination day since GE1988. A rejuvenated WP, under the leadership of Secretary-general and sole WP Member of Parliament Low Thia Khiang and WP's first woman chairman Sylvia Lim, released its manifesto ahead of PAP and introduced several well-qualified candidates. SDA allies continued a united front amid SPP MP Chiam See Tong and NSP Non-constituency MP Steve Chia facing the tide of a narrowing margin and the brunt of public mishaps respectively. A barrage of problems, after a defamation lawsuit by PAP, hung over SDP and threatened the unity of the once-strong political party. Its leader, Dr Chee Soon Juan, was barred from polls over a fine for speaking without a permit in 2002 and made bankrupt for libel in 2006. Just before the GE, former SDP MP Cheo Chai Chen crossed over to NSP and once again worked with Chiam in SDA. For most of the campaign, PAP focused on James Gomez, a WP candidate in the Aljunied GRC team led by Lim, over an ethnic minority certificate Gomez alleged the Elections Department misplaced. In the end, the political status quo was kept but PAP saw reduced margins island-wide. PM Lee's assignment to SM Goh to gain back non-PAP constituencies did not bear fruit as opposition MPs reversed their fortunes. Apart from overseas voting for those who resided in Singapore for two out of the last five year, this GE saw, for the first time, contests in six-member GRCs and no forfeiture of election deposit. It was also a first for a PAP Prime Minister to garner a score below PAP's national average and the second GE in history with no independents. The latter could be attributed to new election rules requiring the presence of assentors in nomination centres, posed difficulty for candidates without party machinery. Again, one NCMP seat was alloted and this went to Lim, who became WP's third and the first woman NCMP. Chia, now ex-NCMP, announced his retirement from politics after three unsuccessful bids.

10th Parliament dissolution: 20 April 2006 [Thu]
Nomination day: 27 April 2006 [Thu]
Polling day: 6 May 2006 [Sat]
11th Parliament commencement: 2 November 2006 [Thu]

Eligible voters: 2,159,721 [OV: 1,017]
Voters in walkover constituencies: 936,279 [OV: 459] (43.4%)
Total voters: 1,223,442 [OV: 558] (56.6%)
Total voter turnout: 1,150,003 [OV: 335] (94.0%)

Election deposit: $13,500 (+3.8%)

RESULTS
Single member constituencies	Group representation constituencies
Bukit Panjang	Aljunied GRC [5]	Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC [6]
Chua Chu Kang	Ang Mo Kio GRC [6]	Sembawang GRC [6]
Hougang	Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC [5]	Tampines GRC [5]
Joo Chiat	East Coast GRC [5]	Tanjong Pagar GRC [6]
MacPherson	Holland-Bukit Timah GRC [5]	West Coast GRC [5]
Nee Soon Central	Hong Kah GRC [5]
Nee Soon East	Jalan Besar GRC [5]
Potong Pasir	Jurong GRC [5]
Yio Chu Kang	Marine Parade GRC [6]
Total seats = 84