SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said he has called a general election now as the world is undergoing profound changes, becoming more uncertain, unsettled and even unstable, and Singaporeans have to decide on the team that should lead the nation.
“The global conditions that enabled Singapore’s success over the past decades may no longer hold,” he said on his social media accounts on April 15.
“That is why I have called this general election. At this critical juncture, Singaporeans should decide on the team to lead our nation, and to chart our way forward together.”
PM Wong’s posts came shortly after he advised President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to dissolve Parliament and issue the Writ of Election. Nomination Day is on April 23, and Singaporeans will head to the polls on May 3.
The upcoming election is PM Wong’s first as prime minister and secretary-general of the PAP.
At an April 12 press conference to announce his Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC team, he stressed that the world is looking at a messy and unpredictable transition to a completely different, new global order.
“There is a gathering storm, and we are flying straight into turbulence,” he said.
“In such conditions, who you have in the cockpit matters,” he added. “Singaporeans will have to decide on the team they trust to navigate the storm and chart the way forward for our nation.”
Leading the ruling party into election, PM Wong said then that he would present the PAP’s case to Singaporeans, and that he hopes Singaporeans will give him and his team the chance to do their best for the people in these difficult times.
He also said then that the ruling party will field more than 30 new candidates – the largest number in recent history – in its 2025 slate.
GE2025 comes at a time when there is an ongoing trade war between the United States and China, and follows US President Donald Trump’s imposition of sweeping tariffs on most of the world’s countries.
On April 9, the US said it would pause the “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days, with the exception of tariffs on China, which are currently at a staggering 145 per cent. This sparked retaliation from China, which raised its tariffs on American goods to 125 per cent, effective from April 12.
Singapore is subject to the flat duty of 10 per cent that Trump placed on goods arriving from all foreign countries, which took effect on April 5.
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on April 14 that a functioning global trading system that had helped Singapore to bounce back from past crises was no longer a given. The US’ tariffs could also result in a downward spiral on global trade should other countries retaliate, which would upend business models and possibly lead to recessions in time to come.
“Some people say ‘don’t get excited, don’t over blow the issue, we’ve weathered bigger storms before, we haven’t failed’,” SM Lee said in a speech ahead of a dialogue with National Trades Union Congress leaders.
“We should take it in our own stride, but we do need to be concerned and to understand what is happening and what this means for us, because this time, something important is different.”
He added: “I hope that Singaporeans understand what is happening, what is at stake, and what we must do together to secure our future.”
This election will be for 97 seats across 33 constituencies. They comprise 18 GRCs and 15 SMCs.
The 2020 General Election, held amid the Covid-19 pandemic, saw the PAP secure 61.24 per cent of the vote, winning 83 out of 93 seats. - The Straits Times/ANN
