Singapore: Parliamentary Election, September 11, 2015

At Stake in this election:

• 89 seats in the Parliament.

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Tony TAN Keng Yam (since 1 September 2011)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister LEE Hsien Loong (since 12 August 2004)
• Assembly: Singapore has a unicameral Parliament with 99 seats.[1]

Description of electoral system:

• In the Parliament, 76 members are directly elected by bloc vote in 16 multi-member constituencies (ranging from 4 to 6 members), and a further 13 are directly elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies.[2] Additionally, 9 members are nominated by the president, and up to 9 members may appointed from a “national compensatory” list to ensure political diversity.[3] Voting is mandatory in all Singapore’s elections.

Election Overview:

• Singapore’s 17^th general election was called on 25 August 2015 following the dissolution of Parliament by President Tony TAN Keng Yam. Candidate nomination will occur on 1 September 2015, to be followed by a nine-day election campaign. In the 2011 general election, the People’s Action Party (PAP) maintained their majority in the Parliament, winning 60.16% of the vote and 81 seats in the Parliament. The Parliament will increase in size by two seats following the conclusion of the electoral boundaries review on 24 July 2015.

Main parties in the election:[4]^,[5]

• People’s Action Party (PAP)
  • Leader: LEE Hsien Loong
  • Last Election: 81 seats (60.16% of vote)
• Workers’ Party (WP)
  • Leader: LOW Thia Khiang
  • Last Election: 6 seats (12.83% of vote)
• Singapore People’s Party (SPP)
  • Leader: CHIAM See Tong
  • Last Election: 0 seats (3.11% of vote)
• Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)
  • Leader: CHEE Soon Juan
  • Last Election: 0 seats (4.83% of vote)
• National Solidarity Party (NSP)
  • Leader: Sebastian TEO
  • Last Election: 0 seats (12.04% of vote)
• Reform Party
  • Leader: Kenneth JEYARETNAM
  • Last Election: 0 seats
• Singaporeans First (SingFirst)
  • Leader: TAN Jee Say
  • Last Election: New Party

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,674,472 (July 2015 est.)
• Registered Voters: 2,460,977 (1 August 2015)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 2,894,797 (July 2015 est.)
• Is Singapore a signatory to CEDAW: No
• Has Singapore ratified CEDAW: No
• Gender Quota: No
• Female candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Parliamentarians: 25 (25.3%)
• Human Development Index Position: 9
• Social Institutions and Gender Index Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

• Is Singapore a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 November 2012)
• Has Singapore ratified CRPD: Yes (18 July 2013)
• Population with a disability: 835,095