Singapore's general election: Ruling PAP party wins

Ruling People's Action Party (PAP) won the Singapore's general election, Returning Officer Tan Meng Dui said on Saturday.

The party got 83 parliamentary seats of the 93.

The PAP won the election with 61.24 percent of votes, compared to 69.86 percent in last election in 2015.

The Workers' Party (WP), which got six seats in the 2015 election, won 10 seats this year.

A total of 191 candidates from 11 political parties and an independent candidate contented for 93 seats in the election, which is organized into 14 Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) and 17 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs).

The PAP won the 83 seats from 13 SMCs and 15 GRCs, while WP retained the 10 seats from Hougang SMC, Aljunied GRC and Sengkang GRC.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his team won Ang Mo Kio GRC with 71.91 percent of the votes.

Lee told a press conference that the percentage of popular votes the PAP won in the election was not as high as he had hoped. Nevertheless, the result reflected broad-based supports for the PAP, he added.

The prime minister, also PAP's secretary-general, said he was honored and humbled by the faith Singaporeans had put in the ruling party and the heavy responsibility Singaporeans had entrusted with the party.

"I will use this mandate responsibly to deal with COVID-19 and economic downturn, and to take us safely through the crisis and beyond," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, along with his East Coast GRC team members, won with 53.41 percent of the votes. Heng moved from Tampines GRC to East Coast GRC this year.

The PAP took 83 of the 89 seats in the 2015 election with 69.86 percent of the popular votes, which was higher than the 60.14-percent gain in 2011.