2001 Singaporean general election

General elections were held in Singapore on 3 November 2001. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) won 82 of the 84 elected seats in Parliament. Due to the large number (51) of uncontested seats, only 675,306 of the 2,036,923 eligible voters (33.2%) had an opportunity to vote. As of the recent election in 2020, this was the most recent, and fourth overall (third consecutive) election PAP returned to power on nomination day with a majority of uncontested walkovers. The election marked Goh Chok Tong's last election in which he led the party into a general election; his successor, Lee Hsien Loong, would succeed Goh on 12 August 2004.

2001 Singaporean general election

3 November 2001
84 seats (only 29 seats contested) to the Parliament of Singapore 43 seats needed for a majority 1 NCMP seat offered
Turnout	94.6%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Goh Chok Tong Chiam See Tong Low Thia Khiang Party PAP SDA WP Leader since 1992 2001 2001 Leader's seat Marine Parade GRC Potong Pasir SMC Hougang SMC Last election 81 seats, 65.0% None 1 seat + 1 NCMP, 14.2% Seats won 82 1 + 1 NCMP 1 Seat change 1 1 1 NCMP 1 NCMP Popular vote 470,765 75,248 19,060 Percentage 75.3% 12.0%(total) / 27.6%(valid) 3.0%(total) / 39.3%(valid) Swing 10.3% new alliance 11.2%/1.7%
Results:   People's Action Party   Workers' Party of Singapore   Singapore Democratic Alliance
Prime Minister before election Goh Chok Tong PAP Prime Minister after election Goh Chok Tong PAP

Background

The ruling PAP's secretary-general and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong initially scheduled for the election to be held in 2002, but pushed to November after Singapore faced an economic crisis due to the events of September 11 attacks in the United States.

For the first time since 1963, a formal political umbrella emerged from within the opposition. The four-party Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), which consist of the leader party Singapore People's Party (SPP), the National Solidarity Party (NSP), Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura (PKMS) and Singapore Justice Party (SJP), was led by Chiam See Tong. SDA fielded the most candidates in the election, where NSP provided the bulk of nine candidates, SPP with four, and PKMS providing a required minority candidate.

Former Workers' Party (WP) Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, who lost his seat after being declared a bankrupt owing to lawsuits by PAP leaders, resigned from the party, citing disagreements with the present leadership. The only WP Member of Parliament, Low Thia Khiang took over as secretary-general. During nomination day, WP was nominated on only two wards (Hougang and Nee Soon East SMC), as their sole GRC team who attempt to nominate in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency was disqualified for filing incomplete papers.

A seat had been vacated in 1999 after the conviction of Jalan Besar GRC's MP Choo Wee Khiang over commercial crimes, but no by-election was held as the seat was within a GRC. Under the law, an entire electoral constituency (for both single member and GRC seats) has to be vacated before a by-election could be called, as this was done during the Marine Parade GRC by-election of 1992.

Campaign

This election saw its shortest campaigning period of 17 days after opening of the register of electors, as well as the absence of four-member GRCs from the electoral map (four-member GRCs would reappear again in the 2011 elections, in nearly a decade later). Another increase of the election deposit amount this time was the most significant one in history, which almost doubled.

The end result saw WP's Low and SDA's Chiam retaining their seats, but saw their winning margins slashed from the 1997. With these two opposition wins, one NCMP seat was offered to and accepted by Steve Chia of Singapore Democratic Alliance, who became the youngest and first-ever non-WP NCMP.

Chee Soon Juan incident

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) leader Chee Soon Juan came under fire in the media when he encountered Prime Minister Goh while campaigning at a hawker centre. He used a megaphone to ask Goh, "Where is the $18 billion that you have lent to (Indonesian President) Suharto?". Goh and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew sued Chee for defamation shortly after the election.

Chee lost the lawsuits and was ordered to pay damages of S$300,000 to Goh and S$200,000 to Lee. On 10 February 2006, Chee was declared bankrupt by the High Court after failing to pay the damages owed to Goh and Lee, and was unable to stand in the elections held later May that year, until on 23 November 2012 where Chee was discharged from bankruptcy, and later returned to participate in the 2015 elections.

Timeline

Date	Event
17 October	Publication of Electoral Boundaries report
17 October	Certification of Registers of Electors
18 October	Dissolution of 9th Parliament; Writ of Election issued
25 October	Nomination Day
26 October-2 November	Campaigning Period
3 November	Polling Day
25 March 2002	Opening of 10th Parliament

Electoral boundaries

See also: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (2001–06)

Constituency	Changes
Aljunied GRC	Absorbed the southern Punggol divisions from Cheng San GRC, and Lorong Halus area/Paya Lebar Air Base from Pasir Ris GRC Kampong Kembangan division was split into Aljunied-Kembangan and Kembangan-Punggol divisions (the latter absorbed with Punggol East from Cheng San GRC), while Punggol South division was renamed to Aljunied–Hougang Carved out Changi-Simei division to East Coast GRC and Aljunied division to Marine Parade GRC
Ang Mo Kio GRC	Ward upsized to six members Absorbed Cheng San and Jalan Kayu divisions from Cheng San GRC Ang Mo Kio division was absorbed into Yio Chu Kang and Teck Ghee divisions
Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC	No Change in Boundaries
East Coast GRC	Absorbed Changi-Simei division from Aljunied GRC Carved out Joo Chiat division into SMC
Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC	New Constituency Formed with Ulu Pandan, Bukit Panjang and Buona Vista divisions from Bukit Timah GRC, Sembawang GRC and Tanjong Pagar GRC, respectively Bukit Panjang divisions was split to include Cashew and Zhenghua divisions, while some of Zhenghua division was split from Tanglin division
Hong Kah GRC	Absorbed Bukit Gombak SMC, and a portion of Chua Chu Kang SMC (to form Keat Hong division) Carved out Hong Kah East division to Jurong GRC Hong Kah West was merged into Nanyang division
Jalan Besar GRC	Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Kampong Glam SMC, Kreta Ayer and Kim Seng divisions (which would merge into Kreta Ayer–Kim Seng division) from Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC Geylang West division was absorbed into Kolam Ayer and Jalan Besar divisions
Jurong GRC	New Constituency Formed from a majority of Bukit Timah GRC (except for Bukit Timah division, which carved into SMC), and Hong Kah East division from Hong Kah GRC Jurong division was split into Pioneer and Taman Jurong divisions, while Bukit Batok East division was formed from portions of Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak & Bukit Timah divisions
Marine Parade GRC	No Change in Boundaries
Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC	New Constituency Formed from Pasir Ris GRC (except for the Pasir Ris South division, which was absorbed into Tampines GRC) and northern Punggol divisions of Cheng San GRC (Punggol Central, North and South)
Sembawang GRC	Carved out Nee Soon East division into SMC, and Bukit Panjang division into Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC Sembawang and Woodlands division were split to include Canberra and Admiralty divisions respectively
Tampines GRC	Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Pasir Ris South division from Pasir Ris GRC (renamed to Tampines North)
Tanjong Pagar GRC	Absorbed Moulmein and Tanglin (renamed to Tanglin-Cairnhill) divisions from Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC Carved out Buona Vista division to Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC Leng Kee division was absorbed into Queenstown, Radin Mas and Tanglin-Cairnhill divisions
West Coast GRC	Ward upsized to five members Absorbed Boon Lay SMC and some of Bukit Timah GRC (Jurong, Joo Koon, Gul Circle and Tuas) Pasir Panjang division was dissolved into Telok Blangah and West Coast divisions

Outgoing/New MPs

There were a total of 40 (25 PAP) candidates making their political debut in the 2001 election. Among the new faces were Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Halimah Yacob who would later become future Senior Minister and President of Singapore, respectively. 24 incumbent MPs retired prior to the announcements. 15 candidates outside PAP were also new, among which new faces include Chee Siok Chin, sister of the SDP's leader Chee Soon Juan, as well as Desmond Lim, who would later lead the newly-formed SDA in future years, and a future Perennial candidate Ooi Boon Ewe.

New PAP candidates	Outgoing MPs	New opposition candidates
Ahmad Khalis, 40 Amy Khor, 43 Arthur Fong, 37 Balaji Sadasivian, 46 Cedric Foo, 41 Chong Weng Chiew, 32 Cynthia Phua, 43 Eric Low, 53 Gan Kim Yong, 42 Halimah Yacob, 47 Indranee Rajah, 38 Irene Ng, 37 Khaw Boon Wan, 48 Madeleine Ho, 45 Mohammed Maliki bin Osman, 36 Ng Eng Hen, 42 Ong Seh Hong, 37 Penny Low, 34 Raymond Lim, 42 Sitoh Yih Pin, 38 Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 44 Vivian Balakrishnan, 40 Warren Lee, 41 Wee Siew Kim, 41 Zainudin Nordin, 38	Aline Wong (Tampines GRC (Changkat)) Bernard Chen Tien Lap (West Coast GRC (Clementi)) Chng Hee Kok (East Coast GRC (Fengshan)) Eugene Yap (Marine Parade GRC (Mountbatten)) Goh Chee Wee (Boon Lay) Goh Choon Kang (Marine Parade GRC (Braddell Heights)) Harun Abdul bin Ghani (Hong Kah GRC (Hong Kah West)) Heng Chiang Meng (Cheng San GRC (Jalan Kayu)) Ho Tat Kin (Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Bishan North)) Ibrahim Othman (Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC (Toa Payoh Central)) Kenneth Chen Koon Lap (Hong Kah GRC (Hong Kah North)) Ker Sin Tze (Aljunied GRC (Paya Lebar)) Lew Syn Pau (Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC (Tanglin)) Ow Chin Hock (Tanjong Pagar GRC (Leng Kee)) Peh Chin Hua (Jalan Besar GRC (Geylang West)) Peter Chen (Hong Kah GRC (Nanyang)) Richard Hu (Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC (Kreta Ayer))^1 S Vasoo (Tanjong Pagar GRC (Radin Mas)) Sidek bin Saniff (Aljunied GRC (Eunos)) Sinakruppan Ramasamy (Kreta Ayer–Tanglin GRC (Moulmein)) Tang Guan Seng (Ang Mo Kio GRC (Ang Mo Kio)) Toh See Kiat (Aljunied GRC (Aljunied)) Wan Soon Bee (West Coast GRC (Pasir Panjang))	Chee Siok Chin, 35 (SDP) Fong Chin Leong, 32 (SDA) Foo Kok Wah, 30 (SDA) Mohamad Isa bin Abdul Aziz, 43 (SDP) Desmond Lim Bak Chuan, 34 (SDA) Lim Boon Heng, 25 (SDP) Arthero Lim Tung Hee, 46 (SDP) Ng Kee How, 47 (SDA) Ooi Boon Ewe, 60 (IND) Poh Lee Guan, 40 (WP) Mohamad Rahizan bin Yaacob, 45 (SDA) Tan Kim Chuang, 55 (IND) Sebastian Teo Kway Huang, 53 (SDA) Tong Meng Chye, 53 (SDA) Vincent Yeo Boon Keng, 48 (SDP)

1. ^ Richard Hu initially announced that he would seek another term in leading a team for the new Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC, but the idea was scrapped.

Results

PAP won a landslide victory and its best result since 1980. The party achieved its third highest score among the general elections it has contested since 1959. The PAP's vote percentage of 75.3% signalled an overwhelming endorsement of the PAP to lead the nation out of the crisis that came at a time of great uncertainty over world security and the recession that came after the September 11 attacks.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Action Party	470,765	75.3	82	+1
	Singapore Democratic Alliance	75,248	12.0	1	0
	Singapore Democratic Party	50,607	8.1	0	0
	Workers' Party	19,060	3.0	1	0
	Democratic Progressive Party	5,334	0.9	0	0
	Independents	4,253	0.7	0	0
Invalid/blank votes		13,636	–	–	–
Total		638,903	100	84	+1
Registered voters/turnout[lower-alpha 1]		2,036,923	94.6	–	–
Source: Singapore Elections

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Party	Candidates	Votes	%
Aljunied GRC	5	125,115	People's Action Party	Ong Seh Hong Cynthia Phua Yeo Guat Kwang George Yeo Yong-Boon Zainul Abidin Bin Mohamed Rasheed	Uncontested walkover
Ang Mo Kio GRC	6	166,644	People's Action Party	Inderjit Singh Lee Hsien Loong Sadasivan Balaji Seng Han Thong Tan Boon Wan Wee Siew Kim	Uncontested walkover
Ayer Rajah SMC	1	18,475	People's Action Party	Tan Cheng Bock	15,024	87.96 / 100
			Democratic Progressive Party	Tan Lead Shake(Loses $13,000 deposit)	2,057	12.04 / 100
Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC	5	114,621	People's Action Party	Davinder Singh Leong Horn Kee Ng Eng Hen Wong Kan Seng Zainudin Nordin	Uncontested walkover
Bukit Timah SMC	1	26,951	People's Action Party	Wang Kai Yuen	19,121	77.37 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Alliance	Tong Meng Chye	4,376	17.71 / 100
			Independent	Tan Kim Chuang(Loses $13,000 deposit)	1,215	4.92 / 100
Chua Chu Kang SMC	1	24,863	People's Action Party	Low Seow Chay	15,349	65.34 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Alliance	Steve Chia[lower-alpha 2]	8,143	34.66 / 100
East Coast GRC	6	144,012	People's Action Party	Abdullah Tarmugi Chew Heng Ching Lee Yock Suan Lim Siang Keat Raymond S Jayakumar Tan Soo Khoon	Uncontested walkover
Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC	5	118,834	People's Action Party	Gan Kim Yong Lim Swee Say David Lim Tik En Teo Ho Pin Vivian Balakrishnan	Uncontested walkover
Hong Kah GRC	5	129,073	People's Action Party	Ahmad Khalis Abdul Ghani Ang Mong Seng John Chen Amy Khor Lean Suan Yeo Cheow Tong	96,450	79.74 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party	Cheo Chai Chen Lim Boon Heng Lim Tung Hee Sarry Bin Hassan Wong Hong Toy	24,513	20.26 / 100
Hougang SMC	1	23,320	Workers' Party	Low Thia Khiang	12,070	54.98 / 100
			People's Action Party	Eric Low Siak Meng	9,882	45.02 / 100
Jalan Besar GRC	5	100,268	People's Action Party	Heng Chee How Lee Boon Yang Loh Meng See Lily Tertasana Neo Yaacob Bin Ibrahim	68,309	74.49 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Alliance	Fong Chin Leong Lim Bak Chuan Mohd Rahizan Bin Yaacob Ng Kee How Sin Kek Tong	23,391	25.51 / 100
Joo Chiat SMC	1	21,745	People's Action Party	Chan Soo Sen	15,426	83.55 / 100
			Independent	Ooi Boon Ewe	3,038	16.45 / 100
Jurong GRC	5	115,113	People's Action Party	Foo Yee Shoon Halimah Bte Yacob Lim Boon Heng Ong Chit Chung Shanmugaratnam Tharman	84,742	79.75 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party	Chee Siok Chin Chee Soon Juan Karuppiah Ambalam Gandhi Mohamed Isa Bin Abdul Aziz Yeo Boon Keng Vincent	21,511	20.25 / 100
MacPherson SMC	1	22,010	People's Action Party	Matthias Yao Chih	16,870	83.73 / 100
			Democratic Progressive Party	Tan Soo Phuan	3,277	16.27 / 100
Marine Parade GRC	6	140,174	People's Action Party	Gan Lai Chiang Goh Chok Tong Mohamad Maidin bin Packer Mohd Othman Haron Eusofe R Ravindran Tan Hwee Hua	Uncontested walkover
Nee Soon Central SMC	1	22,975	People's Action Party	Ong Ah Heng	16,755	78.52 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Party	Ling How Doong	4,583	21.48 / 100
Nee Soon East SMC	1	28,465	People's Action Party	Ho Peng Kee	19,566	73.68 / 100
			Workers' Party	Poh Lee Guan	6,990	26.32 / 100
Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC	5	134,151	People's Action Party	Ahmad Magad Charles Chong Michael Lim Penny Low Teo Chee Hean	Uncontested walkover
Potong Pasir SMC	1	18,759	Singapore Democratic Alliance	Chiam See Tong	8,107	52.43 / 100
			People's Action Party	Sitoh Yih Pin	7,356	47.57 / 100
Sembawang GRC	6	166,137	People's Action Party	Chin Tet Yung Hawazi Daipi K. Shanmugam Lee Wei Rhen Warren Mohd Maliki Osman Tony Tan Keng Yam	Uncontested walkover
Tampines GRC	5	125,432	People's Action Party	Mah Bow Tan Ng Phek Hoong Irene Ong Kian Min Sin Boon Ann Yatiman B Yusof	85,915	73.34 / 100
			Singapore Democratic Alliance	Abdul Rahim Bin Osman Foo Kok Wah Neo Ting Wei Sebastian Teo K H Yip Yew Weng	31,231	26.66 / 100
Tanjong Pagar GRC	6	141,150	People's Action Party	Chay Wai Chuen Chong Weng Chiew Indranee Thurai Rajah Khaw Boon Wan Koo Tsai Kee Lee Kuan Yew	Uncontested walkover
West Coast GRC	5	110,779	People's Action Party	Fong Jen Arthur Foo Chee Keng Cedric Ho Geok Choo Madeleine Lim Hng Kiang S Iswaran	Uncontested walkover
Source: ELD

Notes

1. 1,361,617 of the 2,036,923 voters were registered in uncontested constituencies
2. Elected as NCMP on 5 November 2001.

References

• "Hsien Loong: Election soon". (8 November 2005). New Straits Times, p. 31.

External links

• Singapore Elections Webpage