Singapore PM Lee hints at early election next year

FILE PHOTO: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrives at the ASEM leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested on Sunday a general election may be called next year, more than a year before his government's mandate ends, as the city-state braces for growing economic uncertainty amid global trade tensions.

Lee's People's Action Party (PAP) has dominated Singapore's politics over the five decades since the republic's independence, winning all the elections with significant majorities, and faces no real challenge to its power.