PAP suffers defeat, Anwar fantasizing victory

Singapore People's Action Party suffered a heavy loss in Punggol East by-election yesterday, leaving the longtime ruling party pondering on the peoples' expectation amid its effort in improving the economy and introducing more measures to help them brace the rising cost of living.

I believe it sent a strong signal to the government of PM Lee Hsien Loong that the island-republic will have to engage a new political approach to deal with its socio-economic tensions and mounting demand for better public services.

The People's Action Party government still dominates Parliament, holding 80 seats in an 87-member legislature. But the vote in the Punggol East ward marks the ruling party's second by-election defeat in eight months, and boosted the Workers' Party to an unprecedented seven lawmakers.

Lee Li Lian (picture) of the Workers' Party took 16,038 of the valid votes, defeating the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) by a narrow margin in a four-corner contest. PAP's Koh Poh Koon received 12,856 votes.

The two other contestants, Reform Party's Kenneth Jeyaretnam, took 353 votes and Singapore Democratic Alliance's Desmond Lim had 168 votes. Total votes cast was 29,832, with 417 rejected votes.

Defeat for the incumbent PAP comes amid rising public complaints in the city-state over high living costs, infrastructure shortcomings, immigration, and a widening gap between rich and poor. Those concerns remain despite measures taken after the ruling party's slimmest-ever general election win in May 2011, when its vote share fell 6.5 percentage points to 60.1 per cent.

Voters had already chastened Singapore's establishment in three earlier elections in the last two years. The PAP, which has held power since 1959, was stunned at the general election in May 2011, when its vote share fell to the lowest level since Singapore became a nation in 1965. The ruling party's favored candidate then scraped a win in an unexpectedly heated presidential election in August that year, before a third setback in a by-election last May.

Since the May 2011 vote, the PAP government has taken steps to cool a buoyant housing market, help low-income families, and slow the inflow of immigrants and foreign workers that has helped boost Singapore's population by over 27 per cent since 2002 to 5.3 million people - measures that businesses leaders say will slow economic growth and drive up labor costs. But home prices are still rising, and a spate of recent labor disputes has focused attention on the large migrant workforce.

It’s a sign that Singaporeans are now looking to have more opposition voices in Parliament, and the WP is in the best position to pick up support from voters looking for an alternative. The other parties have yet to garner the same amount of support – and votes – as the WP.

As a politician, Lee has often highlighted the challenges faced by young families in Singapore, especially the difficulties for single parents. Her election has not only increased the representation of women in Parliament, but will hopefully provide a voice for an issue in need of further discussion and debate.

And of course the opposition victory will inspire Pakatan Rakyat's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim in his bid to takeover Putrajaya in our upcoming 13th general election. He will capitalise on the PAP's loss as an evident that our longtime ruling party Barisan Nasional cannot hold the power forever.

Prior to the national poll, Anwar is already saying the whole world was ready to recognise him as our next prime minister.

I also believe BN and PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak are aware of the challenge and making preparations to avoid the ruling party to suffer what Japanese LDP had experienced in 2009.