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1976 Singaporean general election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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General elections were held in Singapore on 23 December 1976 to elect all 69 members of Parliament. They were the fifth general elections since the introduction of self-government in 1959 and the third since Singapore's independence in 1965. The number of parliamentary seats increased from 65 to 69 due to changes in electoral boundaries and the increase in population. Out of the 69 constituencies, 53 were contested, while 16 were won uncontested by the People's Action Party (PAP). A total of 124 candidates participated in the elections, including 122 from political parties and 2 independents.
The ruling PAP, led by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, won all 69 seats in another landslide victory, marking its third consecutive clean sweep since 1966. The total electorate surpassed one million for the first time in Singapore's history, but only 857,297 were eligible to vote due to uncontested constituencies. The PAP secured 590,169 of the 796,572 valid votes cast, accounting for 74.09% of the popular vote. Voting, which is compulsory, reached a turnout of 95.08% among the eligible voters in the contested constituencies.
Opposition parties, including the Workers' Party (WP), the Barisan Sosialis (BS), the United Front (UF) and others, contested the elections but failed to win any seats. The WP fielded 22 candidates, while the UF fielded 14. Notably, the elections saw the political debut of Goh Chok Tong of the PAP and independent candidate Chiam See Tong, both of whom would later become prominent figures in Singaporean politics. The results maintained the PAP's complete control of Parliament and extended its one-party rule.[1][2]
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Electoral system
The 69 members of Parliament were elected from 69 single-member constituencies, an increase from 65 used for the previous elections in 1972. The deposit was increased for the first time to S$1,200, up from S$500.[2]
Timeline
Constituencies
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In July 1976, the Electoral Boundaries Delineation Committee recommended to adjust the number of electorate to between 13,000 and 20,000. The change resulted in six constituencies being abolished, 11 constituencies had their electoral boundaries changed, and ten new constituencies created. The number of constituencies increased from 65 to 69. The recommendations were accepted.[3]
Campaign
A total of 124 candidates contested the election. The ruling PAP was the only party to contest every one of 69 constituencies, while the five other opposition parties (namely Barisan Sosialis, the Singapore Justice Party, PKMS, the United Front and the Workers' Party) formed a Joint Opposition Council to cooperate at the polls. The Workers' Party nominated 22 candidates and United Front 14; no other party put forward more than six candidates, while two candidates ran as independents.
The election marked their political debut of two prominent candidates, independent candidate Chiam See Tong and Goh Chok Tong of the PAP, who would become the then-longest-serving opposition MP and the second Prime Minister, respectively.[5]
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Results
For the third consecutive election, the PAP won every one of the 53 contested seats with a 74.09% popular vote, along with Lee Kuan Yew's seat of Tanjong Pagar polled 89.03% of the valid votes cast. The Workers' Party secretary-general J. B. Jeyaretnam had the best performance among opposition parties, winning with 40.08% of the votes in Kampong Chai Chee. Three candidates garnered under one-eighth of the votes and had forfeited their $500 election deposits. The voter turnout was 95.08%.[6]
Popular vote
- PAP (74.1%)
- Workers' (11.6%)
- United Front (6.70%)
- Barisan (3.19%)
- Others (4.47%)
Seats won
- 16 seats (PAP; uncontested) (23.2%)
- 53 seats (PAP; contested) (76.8%)
By constituency
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Notes
References
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