Parliamentary elections in Singapore in 1988
Parliamentary elections were held in Singapore on September 3, 1988. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 80 of the 81 seats. The turnout was 94.7%, although that number represents the turnout in the 50 objectionable constituencies, with PAP candidates in the other 31 constituencies receiving walks.
background
In these parliamentary elections, group representation was introduced to ensure representation of ethnic minorities in parliament, starting with three common constituencies. This was the last time Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew led the PAP in an election and two more stalwarts, former Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Toh Chin Chye and Senior Minister S. Rajaratnam, withdrew due to the PAP renewal process. Two seats were vacated in 1986 - the seat of Anson for MP of the Workers' Party (WP) and Chief JB Jeyaretnam and Geylang West by PAP MPs Teh Cheang Wan, the former convicted and disqualified MP for improper party accounts during the second committed suicide while under an investigation into corruption - but no by-election was held in either constituency. The WP took over two parties, Barisan Sosialis (BS) and Singapore United Front, in order to become the largest opposition party and also to ally itself with the Malaysian party PKMS as a common entity. The WP candidate Low Thia Khiang also made his debut in the election Low was current MP of the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency). With the sole victory of the Singapore Democratic Party leader Chiam See Tong at Potong Pasir's headquarters, former Attorney General and President of the Law Society, Francis Seow, and veteran politician Dr. Lee Siew Choh, who were both under the WP ticket in the Eunos Group Representation Constituency, offered two MPs without a constituency; their campaign was notable for criticizing PAP for allegedly dubious financial circumstances that led PAP candidate and Minister of State Tay Eng Soon to lead their PAP team for Eunos. Although he lost by a narrow margin of 49.1% to 50.9%, the special stage was qualified for the NCMP; However, Seow fled the country to avoid arrest and was disqualified from the job, while Lee accepted the offer and became Singapore's first NCMP, making Lee's return to parliament after 25 years since his last stint as PAP and BS legislature featured. Once again, there was a significant increase in the number of election deposits. In November 1990, two years after the election, the nominee MP program was introduced to get impartial votes in the legislature. Although the law allowed up to six NMPs, two were initially appointed and served for a year before parliamentary term ended.
