Singapore as a quasi-one-party state

PAP support is on the decline. In the 2020 general election, the PAP garnered 60% of the popular vote, down from 70% in the 2015 general election. Fortunately for the PAP, the nations opposition is fragmented and divided, and unlikely to unite as a single front against the PAP in 2025.

The key question for the new leadership is whether Singapore would have been able to progress the way it did, if it had a political system which allowed criticism and debate, not to mention a fairer more inclusive electoral system over the last 50 years?

Singapore's development has not been without its costs. Lee Kwan Yew often stated that states within the Asian region could only be run through 'guided democracies.' Any fully fledged liberal democracy would have been disastrous for stable government.

This is worth reflecting upon to see the way the fourth generation will pursue future governance. It should continue to be pragmatic, technocratic, and based upon a very select group of elite cadres. Singaporeans must expect more of the same.

The one-party state today, with all its imperfections, is not just about the PAP. Its now just as much about the opposition uniting and their real want to take government.

Should there ever be a day the opposition came to power, it would take decades for the new government to disassemble the tentacles of PAP influence. The pragmatic approach is that one day the opposition may share government in a junior position to the PAP, which itself would be a revolution in Singapore politics.

This may take a generation.