Essay

On 30 May 1959, a General election, the 1959 Singaporean legislative assembly general election, was held The election was distinctive in being the first election in which all the seats were completely determined by the population as per the new Constitution of Singapore of 1959; in previous elections, some seats had always been chosen by Singapore's colonial authorities. Although PAP was the opposition party at that time,the party’s decision to contest all 51 Legislative Assembly seats positioned it as the front runner in the election. To counter the PAP, the ruling Singapore People’s Alliance along with other major opposition parties such as the Liberal Socialist Party accused the party of having a Marxist doctrine that would turn Singapore into a communist state if it was voted into power. Despite the accusations by the other political parties, the PAP was not only voted into power for the first time but enjoyed a landslide victory in the election.

One of the major reasons why PAP managed to win the General election was that they appealed well to the general public and properly addressed all their needs and desires,which include the desire for immediate independence from the British,democracy among the people as well as the desires among trade union workers and communist supporters for the communist leaders that had been jailed to be set free as promised during the campaign. Also, they promised the people certain things which led the people to voting for  them. The PAP aimed to be “a government of the people for the people” by providing Singapore with a “stable, honest and just government”.

They won 43 out of 51 seats in the Legislative Assembly and captured 53.4 percent of the votes cast. After the election results were announced, “incumbent” Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock and his ministers tendered their resignations on 1 June 1959, thus paving the way for Lee Kuan Yew, then secretary-general of the PAP, to become the first prime minister of Singapore.