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In the latest election, Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP) came back to power winning 82 of the 84 seats with 37 seats unopposed. This brings to focus how important the Indian
democracy is to the entire arc drawn from Japan to West Asia.
Singapore gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1965 and so far the
PAP has never lost an election winning all 10 contests. While this was the same for most of Indian democratic history where the Congress won more than any other party, at no time were there official curbs, restrictions on participation or contesting, or limitation on the number of political parties.
The elections are seen as a referendum on Lee Hsien Loong after he inherited the party from the popular Goh Chok Tong. While the PAP may have won 82 seats, popular vote percentages have dropped from 75.3% to 66.6%. Opposition leaders say that the process to succeed is slow and the growth in their popular votes only shows that the youth want change.
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