1968 Singaporean general election

1968 Singaporean general election

← 1963 13 April 1968 1972 →
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All 58 seats in Parliament 30 seats needed for a majority
Registered	84,883
Turnout	91.83% ( 3.28pp)
Majority party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew Party PAP Last election 46.93%, 37 seats Seats won 58 Seat change 21 Popular vote 65,812 Percentage 86.72% Swing 39.79pp
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Lee Kuan Yew PAP Prime Minister after election Lee Kuan Yew PAP

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General elections were held in Singapore on 13 April 1968, the first as a sovereign country after its independence three years prior.^[1] The People's Action Party (PAP) won in a landslide, winning all 58 seats at the time, including 51 uncontested constituencies.

In 1968, Singapore was a young independent nation facing significant challenges, including economic underdevelopment, security concerns and social integration. The government focused on industrialising the economy, attracting foreign investment, and developing a strong military, particularly in response to the announcement of the British military withdrawal East of Suez by 1971. The government promoted civic nationalist policies such as bilingualism, National Service (NS) and ethnic integration to avoid the re-emergence of racial strife. Singapore was previously admitted into the United Nations (UN) in September 1965, joining the international community.

During the late 1960s, some local politicians, particularly from the left-wing Barisan Sosialis (BS), were against Singapore's newly found sovereignty and boycotted Parliament, believing it to be impractical and ungenuine. This led to by-elections in 1966 and 1967, with eleven MPs resigning from Parliament. BS decided that their strategy to protest the "undemocratic acts" of the PAP was to carry their struggle outside of Parliament. One of these MPs, Chia Thye Poh, declared that the means of the struggle would be "street demonstrations, protest meetings and strikes".^[2]

In response, the PAP government viewed these boycotts as "conducting pro-communist activities with the intention of causing a communist revolution" and arrested some BS politicians under the Internal Security Act (ISA), including Chia. By 1968, the PAP had complete supermajority control of Parliament. The PAP would end up occupying all seats in Parliament until 1981.^[3]

The remnants of BS boycotted the elections on the grounds that the political situation were "a complete farce" and several opposition parties heeded its call. On nomination day, the leaders of Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (PKMS), formerly the local branch of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO), Ahmad Haji Taff, and the Singapore Chinese Party (SCP), formerly the local branch of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Chng Boon Eng, turned up at the Elections Department (ELD) but did not file their nominations.^[4]

With only seven contested seats out of 57, the PAP returned to power on nomination day. The only political party other than the PAP that contested in the election were the Workers' Party (WP), albeit in only two seats at Jalan Kayu and Nee Soon. In addition, five independents contested in five different constituencies – Farrer Park, Geylang Serai, Kampong Ubi, Moulemein and Lee Kuan Yew's seat of Tanjong Pagar.

The election saw several precedents: the ruling PAP returned to power during nomination day for the first time, a feat not repeated until 1991, the fewest seats contested in any general election, and with all seven of them being a straight contest – a similar situation would not occur again until 2006. The PAP winning every seat also became a recurring theme until 1984. Walkovers in constituencies held by the PAP also became a perpetual feature in every succeeding Singaporean general election until 2015. It was also the last general election in which the campaign period lasted for two months; for subsequent elections it was restricted to only 9–10 days.

The 58 members of Parliament were elected in 58 single-member constituencies, an increase from 51 in the 1963 elections. The constituencies introduced or removed in the election, as well as constituencies with changes of boundaries, are shown on the table:

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	65,812	86.72	+39.79	58	+21
	Workers' Party	3,049	4.02	+3.97	0	0
	Independents	7,033	9.27	+8.10	0	0
Total		75,894	100.00	–	58	+7
Valid votes		75,894	97.36
Invalid/blank votes		2,058	2.64
Total votes		77,952	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		759,367	91.83
Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections[a]

Out of the seven seats contested (all by only two candidates), three had winning margins of over 75%, with the losers forfeiting their deposit. The result for Tanjong Pagar (94% to 6%) remains the biggest winning margin and percentage obtained to date.