- 10 months ago
How will PAP's renewed mandate under Lawrence Wong impact Malaysia-Singapore relations and regional cooperation? Tune in tonight at 9pm for the discussion.
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00:00This is Ajanda Awani with me, Naila Huda, and today we turn our attention to our closest
00:11neighbour, Singapore, where the General Election 2025 has just concluded with the People's
00:16Action Party, PAP, securing an enhanced mandate under the leadership of Prime Minister Lawrence
00:22Wong. And despite some domestic political challenges and global uncertainty, the PAP
00:27has managed to secure, solidify its position, while the Workers' Party, the Opposition,
00:33has also strengthened and solidified its role as the main challenger. What contributed to this
00:40outcome and what can we expect to come after this with Singapore and its renewed mandate,
00:47its role within ASEAN as well as its relations with major powers and neighbours such as Malaysia?
00:52To discuss and unpack the key takeaways from Singapore's General Election 2025, joining
00:58us, we have Dr. Mustafa Izuddin, Senior Political Analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore. Thank you so much,
01:04Dr. Mustafa, for joining us today. How are you?
01:06I'm good. Thank you for having me.
01:08We want to first look at the PAP, of course, not just looking at the landslide win, but we're also
01:16witnessing their share of the popular vote rising from about 61% to 65% from the previous election to
01:26this time around. What do you make of this? It's quite a significant increase.
01:29I think that's quite significant because any percentage right that you have a rise in popular
01:37vote is very difficult to achieve. So to achieve four percentage points, it's actually quite exceptional.
01:43And 65% in Singapore context can be considered a very strong mandate.
01:51Yeah, this mandate that you say is what a lot of people have been saying to describe the general
01:57election as a sort of a litmus test towards, of course, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his first
02:02year in office, his government handling all these challenges in the past year. What do you make of this?
02:09The Prime Minister was seeking a strong mandate and that's exactly what the voters have given him.
02:15He wanted to start off his prime ministership. This is the first election as Prime Minister on a high note.
02:21And that's exactly what has happened with the election results. So I think overwhelmingly,
02:25many people in Singapore, those who can vote, have decided to give him the mandate that he had sought.
02:33And I think it's important for him to get that mandate so that he can steer Singapore both domestically
02:38as well as internationally. So for Lawrence Wong and his government, what do you think
02:45they should take away from this election and also reflecting on the past year?
02:49I think they can take away from this election that the people are behind them. They want a strong
02:57government and they want the government to listen to the people and also listen to the sentiments of
03:03the people and strengthen the internal core in Singapore. And very importantly, of course, there are many
03:11difficult challenges facing Singapore globally. And so for the government to be strong enough,
03:17to be nimble enough and to have the necessary aptitude and wherewithal to navigate Singapore through those
03:26difficult challenges that Singapore faces as a country.
03:29Yeah, you mentioned the global climate. A lot of analysts also looked at this as voter sentiment
03:39driven by this need to or this flight to safety amidst so much global uncertainty, global challenges.
03:49Do you also agree with this view? It's rather a safe choice when they're faced with such uncertainties?
03:56There is a degree to which the voters have gone for flight safety, to go for a government that provides
04:04the safe, provides a pair of steady hands. Because you need that steadiness, you need that level headedness
04:12to overcome challenges that are difficult to someone and not easy. And sometimes you have to do it for the long
04:20long term. So I think that's where I would see the voter sentiments. They were voting for stability,
04:29they were voting for continuity, and they were voting for certainty. I mean, these three things are very
04:36important for the voters as can be seen by the result. And that means that the government has remained
04:43intact. It is status quo from the election in terms of the seats that have been worn or retained. And so the
04:52government is strong now, and it has been strong and it remains strong now to deal with the challenges
04:59ahead of that.
05:00You mentioned seats. I'm reminded of certain hot seats that were hotly debated on social media looking at,
05:09I believe, Jalan Kayu and Punggol. Were these the results that you expected in some of these hot seats?
05:15I think the hot seats were the ones that we had our eyes on and certainly did not disappoint. It was really,
05:21really close. And we can see the constituencies where between the People's Action Party, which is the
05:28ruling party, and the Workers' Party, which is the opposition that had seats in parliament. And of
05:36course, now it has seats as well. So we did expect there to be a close and intense contest, a fierce
05:43contest, exactly what we saw. And I think one takeaway from that is that among the voters as well,
05:50while they seek a strong government, they also seek responsible and constructive opposition.
05:57And for the voters, based on the results that we've seen, their opposition party of choice is the
06:02Workers' Party.
06:04On that note about the Workers' Party and going back just briefly on that point about safety, also echoing
06:12that sentiment was opposition leader Pritam Singh talking about that swing to PAP, partly driven
06:20by the current global and geopolitical climate, potentially influencing voters to resort to safety.
06:29To what extent do you think these external geopolitical factors and tensions played a
06:34part in influencing voter sentiment this time around?
06:38Elections in Singapore is a domestic affair. The focus is very much on bread and butter issues,
06:44and then the conditions by which they stay, the place of living and so on. So things that are very
06:53personal, issues are very personal to the voter. And it remains the case in this particular election.
06:58But certainly it has also been combined with what's happening globally as well. So it's certainly a factor
07:05what happens globally and the impact it has on Singapore, or it could have in Singapore. And
07:11Singapore is not immune to global challenges. So what happens globally can have a domestic
07:17impact or domestic, or there can be implications to domestic issues. So the intersection between
07:24global and domestic was also in the minds of voters. And I think certainly it would have been
07:29great in their calculations in terms of how they voted in this election.
07:36We've discussed about the PAP, but what challenges do you think opposition parties faced in this
07:42election? What do you think of factors such as maybe resource constraints, legal issues perhaps,
07:48did this play a role in impacting the performance or was it something else?
07:52Well, I think the elections in 2025, I think we've had that healthy exchange of ideas and
08:01having different positions on policies. And I think the opposition certainly had up the game
08:09in Singapore in 2025. But with the results that we see, and the opposition in Singapore is not monolithic.
08:18There are many political parties in the opposition camp. So within the opposition camp, the workers
08:24party is certainly the opposition party of choice. And as a result of that, they have retained the 10
08:32seats that they had previously, and they've retained it in the 2025 GE that is in Aljunay and Sangkang,
08:39as well as Haugam. But they've also been able to clinch the two NCNP seats. These are non-constituency
08:46members of parliament seats. In other words, they did not win the election, but they were very close
08:52in winning the election. So they had to talk to, if you like, losers, not in a negative sense,
08:57in a positive sense. And with that, they were able to take on those seats. So in other words,
09:05in parliament, there will be 12 seats that will be occupied by the workers party. So that tells you
09:11the choice that people have made as far as the opposition party is concerned. So what happens
09:16to the rest of them? Now, the Singapore Democratic Party has also done well.
09:22They're disappointed with the results, but they've also gave a good account of themselves.
09:27And so this is something that they can build on going forward. And it is a party that has been
09:32working the ground in Singapore for quite some time. It's also the Progress Singapore Party that contested
09:40in West Coast GRC. And that was also the one that many analysts were watching as well. Although they did
09:46not do as well as they did in 2020, it is still a party that's a work in progress. So the litmus test for
09:56these parties who did not pledge any seats is how to build on what they have done in 2025 and become
10:03better in subsequent elections. And we have other much smaller parties. They are newer parties. They
10:09are still learning and gaining political experience. They may stay, they may not stay, but we'll have to
10:16see when the next election, which is five years time. So in five years is very long in politics and
10:21anything can happen. But right now it seems quite clear that the people in Singapore desire a strong
10:28government that's led by the PAP and an effective, constructive and responsible opposition in the
10:35form of the WP or Workers' Party. Yeah, definitely a long way to go, but it's definitely interesting to
10:43look at how opposition politics in Singapore is developing, especially with what's happened this time
10:50around. Looking at the results that came out with the opposition and, you know, obviously with the
10:56Workers' Party holding onto its foothold, what do you think this signals or this might indicate about
11:03the long-term prospects of opposition politics in the long term? Well, the long-term prospects of
11:10opposition politics here, it's a bright one. It's promising. It's here to stay in Singapore. We have
11:17multiple political parties and they all have an opportunity to contest in an election and for the
11:24people to decide which of the parties and their candidates that they would like best to represent
11:29them in parliament. So yes, I think opposition politics has a place in Singapore's political
11:38landscape. And as I had shared earlier, I think at the moment, because of the high standards that
11:45Singapore voters have for both the ruling party as well as the opposition, it seems at least kind
11:50of current trajectory, the two parties of choice for the voting population is the People's Action
11:56Party as well as the Workers' Party. Of course, the People's Action Party or the PAP has been around
12:01for quite some time and it is the only party that has contested all the seats in Singapore, whereas the
12:06Workers' Party has contested less seats compared to the PAP, of course, and the rest of the seats were
12:11protested by the other political parties. But the direction that it has taken from this election is
12:21that the Workers' Party is the opposition party of choice and they have an opportunity to build on that
12:27after this election.
12:43With this in mind, I'm reminded of what some analysts have used to describe this outcome as well as I think
12:50in previous elections as well. They've described this system as a one and a half party system and some would
12:57say it's gaining more traction in Singaporean politics. What do you think?
13:01Yes, I think the one and a half party system will depend very much on how the Workers' Party in
13:06particular performs. In other words, they will need to win more seats in subsequent elections to gradually
13:12move to a one and a half party system. They are not a two-party system in Singapore because the
13:20connotation from a two-party system is either one of the parties should be able to form the government,
13:26but right now the only party that's capable of forming the government is the People's Section
13:31Party because and that's the reason they contested all the seats and they've got an overwhelming majority
13:37in parliament. So what the Workers' Party is seeking to do is to gain more inroads into parliament
13:43and to establish themselves as an effective and constructive opposition. At this point in time,
13:51that's what their goal is and that's also what the voting population in Singapore desires.
13:58Do you think there are still maybe structural or societal barriers that might stand in the way of
14:05a more, I guess, diverse, more competitive nature in Singapore's political landscape? What would it take
14:12for us to see a truly competitive field? I would say it is competitive already in Singapore. To be a
14:19member of parliament in Singapore, the standards are pretty high. That's why the parties are much smaller
14:26in size and procurement policy are not as effective as the Workers' Party in the opposition camp. They were
14:33not able to make inroads into parliament. So that tells you how competitive it is and the standards are
14:39really high as far as Singapore Water is concerned on who they want to cast their ballot for. So it's
14:44already competitive and I think if as far as making it even more competitive, that would depend very much
14:51on the recruitment policy and of the opposition parties and in particular the Workers' Party.
14:58In fact, in 2025, the Workers' Party has been able to recruit some very impressive candidates and
15:08also young candidates. So in other words, they're also building for the future. So if you look at that,
15:14it is competitive. I see it becoming even more competitive but that depends very much on the recruitment
15:21policy of the political parties and the kind of candidates that they can fill election after election.
15:29So I want to look a bit beyond Singapore. Going back to that point on this renewed mandate for the PEP
15:37under the leadership of Lawrence Wong, how might you see this influence relations between Singapore and
15:42Malaysia especially in terms of areas of economic cooperation as well as joint infrastructure
15:48projects? We're seeing of course the SEZ as one of the biggest projects currently ongoing right now.
15:55How do you see this developing?
15:56I think it's business as usual in Singapore-Malaysia relations or Malaysia-Singapore relations and you have a
16:04Prime Minister who sees the relations with Malaysia as very important and pivotal to Singapore's current policy.
16:13So I think what has taken place prior to the election, whatever projects that has been negotiated,
16:20that has been signed, it will continue to be as it is, right? So it's business as usual. And I think for
16:26Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his team, Malaysia is a very important partner to Singapore and it is one
16:33that they will continue to want to strengthen relations with because it brings mutual benefits to both countries.
16:40So I think as far as for Malaysians to understand here, I think for Singapore, the relations is very important.
16:51And I think what this election has also shown that they believe in the government in terms of both the
16:56domestic policy but also the foreign policy. So if you look at Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his team
17:03and the way that they have engaged their counterparts in Malaysia, I think we can safely say that the relations
17:10between Malaysia and Singapore will grow from strength to strength.
17:13Yeah. Going back to that note on foreign policy, with this fresh electoral mandate, how do you think
17:21Singapore is expected to position itself not just in its relations with Malaysia but in a bigger scale as well
17:28in its regional role within ASEAN? When we're talking about regional stability, economic integration,
17:36where do you see this going?
17:39We have a fourth generation of ministers now in Singapore but the experience that they've had in
17:46foreign policy is useful and important. And that experience will help them in terms of how to navigate
17:54Singapore's foreign policy and to further advance Singapore's national interests. Now, as far as ASEAN is
18:03concerned, Singapore is a staunch proponent of ASEAN. It wants ASEAN to continue to not just do well but
18:09continue to do even better. It wants ASEAN to remain relevant. And I think Singapore will continue in this
18:16new, in this 4G, 4 generation team in Singapore. They see similarly to their predecessors in that
18:25ASEAN is a cornerstone of Singapore's foreign policy and the stronger ASEAN is, the better it is for Singapore.
18:36Of course, we were already discussing about the current geopolitical climate, global issues as well,
18:42but obviously we can't ignore the elephant in the room when we're talking about geopolitical issues.
18:47Of course, we have to touch on the current situation with the US and China specifically. How do you think
18:55with these election results, this outcome, do you think this might affect Singapore's economic
19:01diplomacy strategies perhaps in dealing with these major powers?
19:05I think Singapore recognises that there is a global turbulence, particularly with regard to the Trump
19:11terrorists. So that's the reason they have set up a high level task force. And one of those,
19:17part of the task force is Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, and he was known during the election as
19:23the task force man, right, to emphasise its importance to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's team.
19:30So they have a task force and whenever you have a high level task force, it shows that Singapore is taking
19:36very seriously what's happening globally and to cushion the impact it has domestically.
19:41So what I would say right now is because of what's going on around the world with the Trump
19:47test and the impact that perhaps we may not really have seen right now, it may have a much more severe
19:54impact. We don't know at this point in time. So what Singapore is doing through this task force is to
19:59prepare for the worst to happen, but have the best hands to be able to deal with it.
20:09Keeping these challenges in mind, both domestic and globally, and you know, we were talking about what
20:17some of the takeaways, some of the lessons that should be learned from the past year as well as the
20:23selection for the PAP and as well as under Lawrence Wong's leadership. What do you think the cabinet
20:28would look like? I think the cabinet, because of what's happening around the world, I think there
20:36may well be more continuity in his cabinet rather than having made more wholesale changes. But I think
20:46there are certain positions that will certainly need to be filled and important positions.
20:50I think the first is, of course, of the Minister for Defence, right? So the defence portfolio is incredibly
20:57important to Singapore, as is the case in Malaysia and many other countries. It's a very important
21:02portfolio. So it's one of the ministries that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong would have to fill.
21:08Another is, of course, we have one of the Deputy Prime Minister, Hing Suikad, who did really well as
21:15Deputy Prime Minister. He's well respected. So he has stepped down and not contested in this election.
21:22And so that particular position also needs to be filled if the Prime Minister wants to have two
21:28Deputy Prime Ministers. Then, of course, there are newer faces that have come into the picture.
21:33It could potentially also assume political office, not necessarily a minister position, but other political
21:39positions. There may also be existing political office holders that may get maybe promoted to take on
21:46even more roles. So any one of those things could happen. But I think the underlying ethos here is to
21:53keep the Cabinet as stable so that it can continue all the policies that you've had prior to the election,
22:00so they can continue now that the election is equal.
22:04So continuity, do you think is good for the forming of government then?
22:09Absolutely. And I think if you have gotten your policy right, and it's the same in broken,
22:14don't fix it. And I think the policies by and large, if you look at it in terms of its foreign policy,
22:22it has got many things right. And I think it wants to continue that policy. So I think the policy,
22:30at the end of it, whatever policies that are churned out is for the benefit of Singapore and Singaporeans.
22:37And I think that will be the direction that the new Cabinet as part of the government will go.
22:44Probably too soon, but in the near future, what do you think are some challenges or challenges that
22:50the Cabinet should look out for? Maybe some low-hanging fruits as well?
22:53I think in terms of challenges, it's the one that one could point to unpredictability of
23:01global events, if sometimes we're not sure, and also uncertainty in terms of the same direction of
23:06what the global events may go. And of course, we are also in the age of technology,
23:12structure that's caused by technology. So how do we write on technology to work for us in Singapore,
23:19and also, of course, the rise of artificial intelligence, right? So those are some of the areas
23:24that the government will certainly be looking at. They're already looking at it, but I think they
23:30will look even more into it. And of course, it is really important to forecast potential challenges.
23:37So you may not see it now, but it could happen in the future. So do a bit of scenario planning as well.
23:44So I think the immediate task for the government, now that the election is over, is to close the ranks,
23:51right? And rally the people in Singapore to strengthen the domestic core, so as to be able to
23:59deal effectively with difficult external challenges. I believe that's all the time that we have today.
24:06Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us. Definitely interesting outcome, a lot of dynamics,
24:14in domestically and as well as internationally, to look out for with Singapore's politics.
24:20Thank you so much. That was Dr. Mustafa Izzuddin, Senior Political Analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore,
24:25sharing some insights on key takeaways of the Singapore's general election in the past weekend.
24:32So that's all that we have on Agenda Awani at this hour with me.
24:35Nina Lahudda, we'll catch you another time.
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