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1968 Singaporean general election
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General elections were held in Singapore on 13 April 1968 to elect all 58 members of Parliament. They were the first general elections since Singapore became an independent sovereign state in 1965 following its separation from Malaysia. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP), led by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, won a landslide victory, securing all 58 seats in Parliament. Of these, 51 were uncontested, as opposition parties either failed to field candidates or withdrew altogether. As a result, the outcome of the elections was effectively determined before polling day.[1]
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The political context of the elections was shaped by a weakened and fragmented opposition. Barisan Sosialis (BS), the main opposition party formed by former PAP members, had boycotted Parliament after independence and subsequently withdrew from electoral politics altogether, citing concerns over political repression and the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) against dissenting voices. Other minor parties joined the boycott or were either inactive or lacked the organisational capacity to mount a significant challenge. The PAP, in turn, used its control over state institutions and media to reinforce its message of stability, development and national unity during a time of regional uncertainty.[2]
Because of the large number of uncontested seats, voter participation was drastically limited. Out of 759,367 registered voters, only 77,952 out of 84,883 voted with 65,812 going to the PAP, since ballots were cast in just seven contested constituencies. The remaining 51 seats were filled by walkovers. While this result was consistent with electoral rules, it highlighted the constrained political environment and the absence of meaningful electoral competition. The 1968 elections marked the beginning of a prolonged period of de-facto one-party rule by the PAP, during which the party could pursue their policies without opposition. The elections set the tone for Singapore's political trajectory in the decades that followed.[3]
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Background
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In 1968, Singapore was a young independent nation facing significant challenges, including economic underdevelopment, security concerns and social integration. The government focused on industrialising the economy, attracting foreign investment, and developing a strong military, particularly in response to the announcement of the British military withdrawal East of Suez by 1971. The government promoted civic nationalist policies such as bilingualism, National Service (NS) and ethnic integration to avoid the re-emergence of racial strife. Singapore was previously admitted into the United Nations (UN) in September 1965, joining the international community.
Boycott and arrests
During the late 1960s, some local politicians, particularly from the left-wing Barisan Sosialis (BS), were against Singapore's newly found sovereignty and boycotted Parliament, believing it to be impractical and ungenuine. BS boycotted the first session of Parliament which began on 8 December 1965, a few months after independence on 9 August. Its MPs also began resigning, leading to by-elections in 1966 and 1967, with eleven MPs resigning from Parliament in total. BS decided that their strategy to protest the "undemocratic acts" of the PAP was to carry their struggle outside of Parliament. One of these MPs, Chia Thye Poh, declared that the means of the struggle would be "street demonstrations, protest meetings and strikes".[4]
In response, the PAP government viewed these boycotts as "conducting pro-communist activities with the intention of causing a communist revolution". The government arrested some BS politicians under the Internal Security Act (ISA), including Chia. By 1968, the PAP had complete supermajority control of Parliament. The PAP would end up occupying all seats in Parliament until 1981.[5]
Campaign
The remnants of BS boycotted the elections, arguing that the parliamentary system in Singapore was "undemocratic" and that participation would legitimise what they viewed as an "authoritarian regime", and several opposition parties also heeded its call. On nomination day, the leaders of Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (PKMS), formerly the local branch of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO), Ahmad Haji Taff, and the Singapore Chinese Party (SCP), formerly the local branch of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Chng Boon Eng, turned up at the Elections Department (ELD) but did not file their nominations.[6]
Ultimately, the only political party other than the PAP that contested in the election were the Workers' Party (WP), albeit in only two seats at Jalan Kayu and Nee Soon. With only seven contested seats out of 57, the PAP returned to power on nomination day (and the only one where it have a supermajority of walkovers). In addition, five independents contested in five different constituencies – Farrer Park, Geylang Serai, Kampong Ubi, Moulemein and Lee Kuan Yew's seat of Tanjong Pagar.
The election saw several precedents: the ruling PAP returned to power during nomination day for the first time, a feat not repeated until 1991, the fewest seats contested in any general election, and with all seven of them being a straight contest – a similar situation would not occur again until 2006. The PAP winning every seat also became a recurring theme until 1984. Walkovers in constituencies held by the PAP also became a perpetual feature in every succeeding Singaporean general election until 2015 (although walkovers did return in 2025 after the Marine Parade–Braddell Heights GRC was unexpectedly uncontested). It was also the last general election in which the campaign period lasted for two months; for subsequent elections it was restricted to only 9–10 days.
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Timeline
Electoral system
The 58 members of Parliament were elected in 58 single-member constituencies, an increase from 51 in the 1963 elections. The constituencies introduced or removed in the election, as well as constituencies with changes of boundaries, are shown on the table:
Results
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Popular vote
- PAP (86.7%)
- Workers' (4.02%)
- Independents (9.27%)
Seats won
- 51 seats (PAP; uncontested) (89.5%)
- 7 seats (PAP; contested) (10.5%)
By constituency
Out of the seven seats contested (all by only two candidates), three had winning margins of over 75%, with the losers forfeiting their deposit. The result for Tanjong Pagar (94% to 6%) remains the biggest winning margin and percentage obtained to date.
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Aftermath
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The aftermath of the election entrenched the PAP's dominance in Singapore's political sphere. With the main opposition parties including the Barisan Sosialis (BS) staging a boycott, the PAP secured all 58 seats in Parliament, effectively establishing a one-party legislature. This absence of electoral competition enabled the government to advance its policy agenda without parliamentary resistance, reinforcing its mandate to pursue rapid industrialisation, economic restructuring and a model of governance characterised by semi-authoritarian tendencies.[7]
The opposition boycott had lasting ramifications for the political landscape. It precipitated the effective collapse of BS as a credible opposition force, with many of its leaders either detained or in exile. Despite attempts to re-enter the political arena in subsequent elections such as the 1972 Singaporean general election, the party never regained its former prominence. The absence of a viable opposition in Parliament diminished institutional checks and balances and weakened political accountability. Nevertheless, the PAP portrayed the boycott as a dereliction of democratic duty, framing it as evidence of the opposition's lack of resolve and as validation of its own claim to legitimate national leadership.[8]
Legacy
In the years following the election, the PAP leveraged its overwhelming mandate to consolidate efforts in national development and state-building. In pursuit of multiracialism, the government initiated policies such as ethnic integration in public housing to ensure social harmony across diverse communities. Economically, it intensified industrialisation by empowering the Economic Development Board (EDB) to further expand areas like Jurong, transforming them into industrial hubs. To reinforce social cohesion and cultivate a disciplined citizenry, the government introduced National Service (NS) and established a nationwide education system that promoted bilingualism and emphasised civic virtues.[9][10][11]
These programmes were implemented with minimal resistance, enabling rapid and comprehensive transformation of Singapore into a cohesive, stable and economically vibrant city-state. However, this period of accelerated modernisation also entailed the centralisation of authority, leading to criticism that the government had curtailed political pluralism and limited civic space. A key moment in this consolidation occurred in July 1968, when the PAP unanimously passed the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act to curtail the labour movement of Singapore. This legislation curtailed the powers of trade unions by restricting the right to strike, narrowing the scope of collective bargaining and introducing compulsory arbitration in industrial disputes. These reforms diminished the autonomy of independent unions and reinforced the authority of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), which maintains close institutional ties with the PAP to this day.[12]
While the nation experienced sustained economic growth and political stability, these developments came alongside the emergence of Singapore as a de facto one-party state. Opposition parties were not formally banned, yet they functioned under significant institutional and legal constraints. These included the extensive use of defamation lawsuits, the control of mainstream media and reliance on security legislation such as the Internal Security Act (ISA). While political dissent was not completely eliminated, it was confined within tightly regulated limits. The 1968 election marked a pivotal moment in Singapore's political development, entrenching a model of governance characterised by technocratic elitism and constrained electoral competition, although non-PAP parties would gradually re-emerge in the political sphere in subsequent decades.[7]
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Notes
References
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