General elections were held in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
on 13 April 1968, its first as a sovereign city-state.
[ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p254 ]
Background
Following the resignations of eleven MPs from
Barisan Sosialis
Barisan Sosialis ( eng, Socialist Front) was a political party in Singapore. It was formed on 29 July 1961 and officially registered on 13 August 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP) who had been expelled from the PAP. ...
(BS, Socialist Front) and two other BS MPs leaving Singapore in protest against independence, five by-elections were held within three years but PAP were successful in winning all the seats, resulting in a monopoly.
Campaign
BS boycotted the elections on the grounds that Singapore's independence was "phoney" and several opposition parties heeded its call. The leaders of
Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura
The Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (abbreviation: PKMS; English: Singapore Malay National Organisation) is a political party in Singapore.
History
The origins of Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (PKMS) were rooted in the Singapor ...
(formerly the local branch of the
UMNO
The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...
), Ahmad Haji Taff, and the Singapore Chinese Party (formerly the local branch of the
MCA), Chng Boon Eng, turned up but did not file their nominations. Three precedents were made in this election: the fewest seats (seven) contested in a general election, and the first time PAP was returned to power on nomination day and the first time it won all seats. Walkovers also became a perpetual feature in every succeeding general election until
2015.
Timeline
Electoral system
The 58 members of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
were elected in
58 single-member constituencies, an increase from 51 in the
1963 elections. The constituencies introduced or removed in the election, as well as constituencies with changes of boundaries, are shown on the table:
Results
By constituency
Notes
References
{{Singaporean elections
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
General elections in Singapore
1968 in Singapore