Following the dissolution of parliament by the President of Singapore, the election process has commenced. It has been announced that the general election will take place on May 3rd.

In the South Asian island city-state of Singapore, a new election date has been set following the dissolution of parliament by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Singapore’s Elections Department has decided that the election will be held on May 3rd. April 23rd has been announced as the deadline for the determination of candidate lists. Following this date, a campaign period of nine days will follow, and after a one-day “cooling-off” period, voters will go to the polls. CAN PAP WIN ONCE AGAIN? According to information shared by CNBC, this will be the 14th general election held in Singapore since declaring independence. The election on May 3rd will mean the first election for Lawrence Wong as Prime Minister. Wong took over the role of Prime Minister from Lee Hsien Loong, who had been leading the Singapore government since 2004. According to reports in the local media, the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) is expected to face a fierce competition for each seat in the 97-seat parliament in the election. The high cost of living and unemployment are identified as the main concerns of Singaporean voters. PAP has been governing Singapore since its independence in 1965. In the last general election held in 2020, the party received 61.24% of the votes, allowing 83 PAP members to enter the parliament. ELECTION DURING GLOBAL TURMOIL Furthermore, the election will take place during a period of global and economic turmoil created by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariff rates on many countries, especially China. Wong expressed “great disappointment” with the U.S.’s tariff decision on April 8th, noting that it was particularly disappointing considering the deep and longstanding friendship between the two countries.