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71 Electoral Battles and Innovations: Recovering Lost Ground JAMES U.H. CHIN Goh ChokTong led the People’s Action Party (PAP) in three general elections (GEs) in 1991, 1997 and 2001. Like his predecessor Lee Kuan Yew, Goh won all three GEs, and in fact won all on Nomination Day when the opposition did not field enough candidates to win even a majority. During this period, Goh also introduced new electoral innovations that further cemented the PAP’s rule and made it almost impossible for the opposition to win. This essay argues that Goh did not really change the nature of the PAP electoral campaign—the PAP fought ferociously for every vote even though victory was already assured on Nomination Day. All three GEs highlighted Goh’s consultative style,in sharp contrast to the more authoritarian style of his predecessor Lee Kuan Yew, and it was this difference between Goh and Lee that cemented the PAP’s victories.This allowed Goh to win back popular votes for the PAP,which had been declining when he entered office: in the 1980 GE, the PAP’s share of the popular vote was 77.7 per cent; in the 1984 GE, 64.8 per cent, and in the 1988 GE, 63.2 per cent. This essay also argues that, given the institutional constraints imposed on the opposition, the only issue in each GE was the margin of victory. Goh’s main task was to win elections and stop the erosion of support for the PAP, which he was able to accomplish. New Electoral Innovations Although Goh may have projected the image that he wanted a more consultative form of government,thisdidnotnecessarilymeanthathewantedmoreoppositionparliamentarians. He wanted civil groups in society to give their views and be consulted on public spolicies. However, like other senior PAP leaders, he firmly believed the ground rules established by Lee, that if the opposition gained a strong foothold in Parliament, the government would have less time to concentrate on ruling and developing Singapore, and this would damage investor confidence.In the 2001 GE,Goh said,“There’s no need to challenge us from outside [the party]. They can challenge us from inside.”1 6 72 JAMES U.H. CHIN To strengthen the PAP’s hold on the electoral system, the Goh administration created several new additions to it. These were the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) and Group Representation Constituency (GRC) schemes. The NCMP and NMP schemes allowed more non-PAP MPs into Parliament but did not give them political legitimacy because they were not elected. It is notable that no other country in the region has features similar to the GRC or NCMP scheme. In 1984,when he was deputy prime minister (DPM),Goh had proposed an amendment to the Constitution to introduce the NCMP scheme. The idea for the scheme came directly after the first opposition MP, Joshua B. Jeyaretnam (known universally in Singapore as JBJ and hereafter in this essay as JBJ), broke the PAP’s 16-year dominance in the legislature when he won a seat in the 1981 Anson constituency by-election. The official reason for the NCMP scheme was to provide the legislature with opposition members who could offer alternative viewpoints. According to Goh, this would provide more legitimacy and confidence in Parliament since a broad spectrum of views would be represented.2 Under the scheme, NCMP seats go to the top opposition losers, up to a maximum of six NCMPs (although in practice during the Goh administration there was only one NCMP during one parliamentary term). When it was offered to the opposition parties after the 1984 General Election, they rejected it, claiming that NCMPs were“second-class MPs”. Nevertheless, the opposition had a change of heart and two Workers’ Party candidates accepted the NCMP nominations after the 1998 General Election, when the opposition did not win outright. Since then, the opposition has accepted NCMP nominations. In 1988, the Parliamentary Elections Act was amended to create the Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). As the name suggests, it exists in tandem with the Single Member Constituency (SMC).In the GRC scheme,the party with the largest share of votes wins all the seats in that constituency. GRCs started out with three wards but in subsequent elections have increased in size, and currently stand at six wards. The main feature of a GRC is that at least one candidate must be from a minority...

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