SINGAPORE, May 7 (Reuters) - Singapore's long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP) suffered its first-ever loss of a multi-member constituency, handing the opposition Workers' Party five of the 87 elected seats in the city-state's parliament.
Singaporeans voted on Saturday in the Southeast Asian country's most hotly contested general election since independence. Although the long-ruling PAP has won the election with more than two-thirds of the seats, its share of the popular vote fell to around 60 percent.
At the last election in 2006, the PAP won about 67 percent of the vote and 82 of 84 seats.
The loss of the five-member Aljunied group representation constituency (GRC) means Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will have to appoint a new foreign minister to replace George Yeo, a member of the PAP team contesting the constituency.
Second Finance Minister Lim Hwee Hua is another member of the losing PAP team.
The Workers' Party team was led by secretary-general Low Thia Khiang and included top corporate lawyer Chen Show Mao, managing partner of the Beijing office of U.S. law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell who advised on many of China's multi-billion-dollar initial public offerings.
The PAP government introduced the GRC system in 1988 saying it needed to ensure minority candidates from the city-state's minority Malay and Indian communities were represented in parliament.
Opposition parties, however, contend the GRCs, are aimed at making it more difficult for them to win seats under Singapore's first-past-the-post electoral system.
The PAP has never lost a GRC since the system was introduced in a 1988 election.
For the current election, the city-state was divided into 15 GRCs of four to six seats each, and 12 single member constituencies.
(Reporting by Kevin Lim) Keywords: SINGAPORE ELECTION/OPPOSITION (Kevin.Lim@thomsonreuters.com)(65)(6403 5663) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Singaporeans voted on Saturday in the Southeast Asian country's most hotly contested general election since independence. Although the long-ruling PAP has won the election with more than two-thirds of the seats, its share of the popular vote fell to around 60 percent.
At the last election in 2006, the PAP won about 67 percent of the vote and 82 of 84 seats.
The loss of the five-member Aljunied group representation constituency (GRC) means Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will have to appoint a new foreign minister to replace George Yeo, a member of the PAP team contesting the constituency.
Second Finance Minister Lim Hwee Hua is another member of the losing PAP team.
The Workers' Party team was led by secretary-general Low Thia Khiang and included top corporate lawyer Chen Show Mao, managing partner of the Beijing office of U.S. law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell who advised on many of China's multi-billion-dollar initial public offerings.
The PAP government introduced the GRC system in 1988 saying it needed to ensure minority candidates from the city-state's minority Malay and Indian communities were represented in parliament.
Opposition parties, however, contend the GRCs, are aimed at making it more difficult for them to win seats under Singapore's first-past-the-post electoral system.
The PAP has never lost a GRC since the system was introduced in a 1988 election.
For the current election, the city-state was divided into 15 GRCs of four to six seats each, and 12 single member constituencies.
(Reporting by Kevin Lim) Keywords: SINGAPORE ELECTION/OPPOSITION (Kevin.Lim@thomsonreuters.com)(65)(6403 5663) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.