“Singapore leader admits change in political scene”
“As Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong contemplated another term of office after a big election win, he nevertheless acknowledged opposition gains had changed the political landscape. In Saturday’s general election, the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) won 81 of 87 seats, compared with its haul of 82 of 84 seats when Singapore last voted in 2006. The PAP’s share of the popular vote fell to an all-time low of 60 percent, from 67 percent in 2006. Lee also lost a trusted aide when Foreign Minister George Yeo was booted out of a hotly contested district along with four other members of the PAP, which has ruled Singapore for 52 years and has never lost more than four seats before. The opposition Workers’ Party grabbed a total of six seats after tapping voter anger over rising costs, stagnant wages, the presence of over a million foreign workers and the PAP’s perceived aloofness from ordinary Singaporeans. ’This is a watershed general election’, Lee said, adding the PAP would have to undergo ‘soul searching’ after the vote. ’So this election marks a distinct shift in our political landscape which all of us must adjust to, not only the political parties but Singaporeans at large’, the 59-year-old leader said in a televised post-election address. Four days before the vote, Lee had made a rare apology for policy mistakes in a bid to stop the momentum of the opposition, which had run a tight campaign focusing on issues that resonated with the electorate. Lee, prime minister since 2004, steered Singapore from a recession in 2009 to record economic growth of 14.5 percent last year. But the prosperity is not evenly spread, with many Singaporeans feeling the crunch from higher housing costs and competition for jobs from immigrants”
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