Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party banked on receiving a strong mandate. Instead, the opposition made historic gains. (File pic shows Lee leaving after making a 'virtual' speech after the elections.)
THE coronavirus that has upended the world’s economic and social life is turning out to be a mediocre election campaigner. The lesson of recent contests in Asia is that pre-existing conditions haven’t gone away and will likely be decisive, even in the bitterly fought US campaign.
Singapore’s general election last Friday, among the first of the Covid-19 era, saw a big swing against the entrenched incumbent party that positioned itself as best placed to steer the country through the pandemic.
With a history of unbroken rule since independence in 1965, four swiftly passed stimulus bills and relatively few virus deaths, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party banked on receiving a strong mandate. Instead, the opposition made historic gains.
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