The Elections Department of Singapore has announced that the nation will undergo a national election on May 3. However, whoever inherits its leadership position may need to face concerns over the cost of living and recession, caused by U.S. tariffs.
Singapore’s current prime minister, Lawrence Wong, stated that he has called for the upcoming general election due to the growing uncertainty and a slowdown in global conditions that have been supporting Singapore’s economy for the past decades.
Due to the U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Singapore’s growth forecast for 2025 was downgraded from 1% – 3% to 0% – 2%. Wong also warned that the U.S.’ 10% base tariffs may remain fixed and pointed to the possible increase of job loss if businesses move to the U.S.
Wong cited that due to these difficulties, Singaporeans should select the people that can lead the nation through.
Wong’s People’s Action Party (PAP) has won the majority of Singapore’s parliament since its nation’s independence in 1965, and is likely to take most of 97 lawmaker seats. Still, the party may face some difficulty as its oppositions have been growing in popularity.
PAP’s rival, the Workers’ Party (WP), won six seats in 2011 and 2015’s elections, and in the 2020’s election, its seat numbers have grown to 10. Meanwhile, the new Progress Singapore Party, which formed in 2019, won two seats in 2020 elections.
Nonetheless, Wong plans to nominate 30 new candidates this election. Their names, along with other candidates from other parties, will be confirmed on nomination day, April 23.
