GE2025: Election campaign unfolds in three acts over a nine-day sprint to the polls

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SINGAPORE – If the last general election felt uncharacteristically muted – held as it was during the Covid-19 pandemic – the past nine days of campaigning have more than made up for it in colour and sound.

Every neighbourhood,

except Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC which saw a walkover on Nomination Day,

has had its lamp posts and street signs plastered with election posters. Fiery speeches have been made in floodlit stadiums, with candidates throwing verbal punches that are parried by their opponents the next day.

On May 1 – the final night of the hustings – parties made one last push with 11 election rallies and a second round of televised political broadcasts, each hoping to leave a lasting impression as the clock ticked towards Cooling-off Day at midnight.

Looking back at the campaign, one might say it has played out in three 72-hour acts: a measured exposition, followed by an abrupt tonal shift, and a furious sprint towards the May 3 polls.

Apart from the Nomination Day surprises – last-minute PAP redeployments and the first walkover since 2011 – the first three days of campaigning unfolded along predictable lines.

But this plodding pace did not last. Opposition parties soon hit out at what they perceived to be the PAP’s biggest missteps, sparring with the ruling party over policy proposals, such as the PSP’s pitch for a minimum wage, and the Singapore Democratic Party’s plans for cheaper public healthcare.

Politicians also revisited the well-trodden ground of whether Singapore should have more opposition MPs in Parliament, and how much municipal issues should matter at the ballot box.

As the first 72 hours of the hustings drew to a close, it became clear that three constituencies – Tampines GRC, Punggol GRC and the single seat of Jalan Kayu – were where the fiercest battles would be fought.

The shift in tone began after sunset on Day Three, when the authorities announced that

they had blocked social media posts by three foreigners

– among them Malaysian politicians – who sought to sway Singapore voters.

The three, along with Singaporean self-styled religious teacher Noor Deros, had spotlighted several opposition politicians in their posts. In particular, Mr Noor had claimed that he had spoken to all the WP’s Malay candidates. He had also criticised Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli and said the WP had taken seriously his call to raise issues on the control and regulation of Islam here.

These developments drew a sharp response from Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who called a press conference to lay down the law: Identity politics has no place in Singapore, and religion and politics should not mix.

He did not single out any political party. The WP also repudiated such behaviour, stating that it made no promises, commitments or agreements to any individual in exchange for political support of its candidates.

In Jalan Kayu, where labour chief Ng Chee Meng is up against the WP’s Andre Low,

the aborted sale of NTUC’s Income Insurance to German insurer Allianz

came under a fresh round of scrutiny.

WP chief Pritam Singh pointed out on April 26 that no PAP labour MP had asked questions about the deal in Parliament when the issue surfaced. He also called the labour movement a “guaranteed trampoline” for losing PAP candidates, urging voters to pick the WP’s Jalan Kayu and Tampines Changkat candidates instead.

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong responded a day later to say that six PAP MPs had asked about the deal, but only one WP MP did. Defending the labour movement’s decision, he said the deal was initially seen as reasonable by the National Trades Union Congress.

The WP had abstained from voting on legislation to block the merger. Pointing this out, SM Lee added: “If it had been left to the Workers’ Party as government, the deal would have gone through because they didn’t oppose it, right?”

In Punggol, the surprise redeployment of Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong ignited a round of jibes over municipal issues, “strangers” in the constituency, and the veteran Cabinet minister’s value to the PAP team. DPM Gan has been in tariff talks with representatives from the US.

The ruling party fired the first salvo on Day Four when Minister of State Sun Xueling said at a rally: “We do not need strangers to come to Punggol… to find out what is on your mind.”

“May I ask, is she referring to DPM Gan Kim Yong too?” retorted the WP’s Alexis Dang two nights later. “Or is he exempted because he’s a good friend of PM Lawrence Wong?”

DPM Gan had earlier said he would speak with PM Wong about necessary infrastructure upgrades in the constituency, calling him “his good friend”.

Mr Singh shot back: “As a Singaporean, I expect fair allocation of taxpayer resources to all our people.” He also asked how it was that the PAP seemed to have no one else capable of negotiating with the US, and why DPM Gan had not been elected to the PAP’s top decision-making body.

It was at this point in the hustings that the gloves truly came off and the verbal jabs flew thick and fast.

With 72 hours of the campaign left to go, PM Wong rebuked the WP for its repeated questioning of DPM Gan’s importance to Singapore. He characterised the party’s behaviour as “negative politics”, adding that it was treating the potential loss of an experienced minister too lightly.

“It is a cavalier and irresponsible approach towards the livelihood and well-being of all Singaporeans,” he said.

Later that day, Mr Singh retorted that

it was the PAP that had engaged in negative politics for years.

He gave examples of how opposition politicians are structurally disadvantaged – for instance, WP’s elected MPs are kept away from citizenship ceremonies, which are presided over by losing PAP candidates.

On April 30, PM Wong characterised this as an issue of policy and not negative politics.

“On policies, I take it that there will always be differences. We can discuss, we can debate robustly – even in Parliament – and there is always room to improve,” he said.

This is also the case with policies regarding the People’s Association, he said.

As the hustings came to a close, PM Wong left voters with a video message in which he pledged to redouble his efforts to make Singapore “a better, fairer and more inclusive home for all”.

“I’m putting together the best possible PAP team to serve you – to steer Singapore safely through the storm, as we did during Covid,” he added. “So I hope you will support the PAP teams in constituencies across Singapore, wherever you are.”

At midnight, the curtain came down on the heat and fury of the hustings. On May 2, voters will have 24 hours to think about the substance of all the arguments made, before the curtain rises again and Polling Day begins.