Survey Shows PAP is Still the Most Credible Party in S’pore But WP’s Credibility Has Increased

By
Victoria Lee
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2020 might suck, but it was an exciting year for Singapore politics. The Workers’ Party (WP) won ten seats in parliament this year, which is an incredible feat for an opposition party.

They also garnered 50.49% of votes in constituencies they contested in, surpassing the 1991 record set by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).

Like what many would’ve said, “Sales figures are the best feedback,” so how true is this?

Voters in 2020

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) post-election survey found that “conservative” voters shrunk in size this year.

The survey defines “conservative” voters as those who disagree that there is a need for change in parliament.

This year, they only accounted for 18.5% of voters. This is a sharp decrease from the 44.3% of conservative voters in 2015.

“Swing” voters, also known as the voters with a wide range of views, accounted for 52.9% of voters this year. This is the highest number of swing voters Singapore has seen since 2006, and only saw 37.8% of them in 2015.

Now, how about how people view political parties?

Party Credibility

More than 4,000 Singaporeans aged 21 and above were asked to share their views after they voted on polling day. They were asked for their opinions of the credibility of each party and traits that they looked out for in candidates.

The findings revealed that the People’s Action Party (PAP) was still seen as the most credible party. Though, it is noted that there has been a decrease in respondents who agreed that they were credible.

This year, only 86% of respondents agreed, down from 93% in the last elections.

They also lost credibility across all age groups, specifically in the 40- to 49-year-old age group.

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Their credibility also dropped amongst tho-e that belonged to lower-income households, residents of one- to- three-room government-built flats and men.

Meanwhile, the Workers’ Party’s credibility increased drastically. 79% of respondents agreed, which is up from 71% in 2015.

In fact, among them, 20% of respondents strongly agreed to WP’s credibility. This is an increase from 8% in 2015.

WP’s ratings increased amongst those who were aged 30 to 49, seniors, PMETs, only have post-secondary educational qualifications, living in one- to three-room government-built flats and women.

In third place came Progress Singapore Party (PSP). Despite being relatively new to the political scene in Singapore, they were seen more credible to men aged 21 and 39, PMETs, the middle-income group and first-time voters.

In terms of traits, voters looked out for their honesty, their ability to be a “fair” person and their ability to be hardworking or committed.

The Pluralist Group

This group is defined as those who agree for the need of change in parliament. This group accounted for 22.4% of voters in 2020, up from 18% in 2015.

The study found that most of these voters came from the youngest age group and the highest socio-economic groups. As IPS predicted, this has been the trend for years. However, the recent election saw a rise of pluralists from other socio-economic groups.

It was found that there were 7.2% more pluralists among low monthly income households under S$1,999 a month and 8.2% came from those who only possessed post-secondary qualifications.

The survey concluded that those in higher socio-economic groups (i.e. rich people) felt the need for opposition in Parliament to address issues given the current economic climate in Singapore.

Whether you’re a PAP supporter or hardcore WP supporter, it’s safe to say that the next elections might just be as exciting this year’s election.

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Victoria Lee
Email: [email protected]