- Title: File footage of Singapore's opposition parties ahead of general election
- Date: 3rd July 2020
- Summary: SINGAPORE (JUNE 30, 2020) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SECRETARY-GENERAL OF WORKERS' PARTY PRITAM SINGH (MIDDLE LEFT), CHAIR OF WORKERS' PARTY SYLVIA LIM (MIDDLE RIGHT), AND COLLEAGUES SPEAKING AFTER REGISTERING FOR CANDIDACY LIM SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY-GENERAL OF WORKERS' PARTY PRITAM SINGH, SAYING: "The Workers' Party will fight for you, the future of Singapore, and our fellow Singaporeans in parliament. Your vote on polling day is crucial. Make your vote count. Vote for the Workers' Party! Thank you." SINGH, LIM AND COLLEAGUES WALKING AWAY SINGAPORE (RECENT - JUNE 28, 2020) (REUTERS) SECRETARY-GENERAL OF PROGRESS SINGAPORE PARTY, TAN CHENG BOCK (BACK SEAT), WALKING OUT OF CAR WITH PARTY MEMBER LEE HSIEN YANG (BEHIND CAR) AND OTHER PARTY MEMBERS LEE (BROTHER OF RULING PEOPLE'S ACTION PARTY'S LEE HSIEN LOONG) GIVING "FIST BUMP" TO STALL OWNER VARIOUS OF LEE DRINKING COFFEE TAN SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY-GENERAL OF PROGRESS SINGAPORE PARTY, DR. TAN CHENG BOCK, SAYING: "I told them never lose sight of these basics and very fundamental things, which I enjoyed working in my days, in the early days as a PAP (People's Action Party) MP, under Lee Kuan Yew. So those value systems I still hold. Well, we may be very tough in the early days, but the people trust us, because they know we do everything for the country. That is so important. So what I'm bringing now is the values that I have inherited from the old guards to this present politics. OK?" MAN USING MOBILE PHONE LEE GIVING "FIST BUMP" TO MAN LEE WALKING AWAY SINGAPORE (JUNE 30, 2020) (REUTERS) PROGRESS SINGAPORE PARTY MEMBERS AND LEE CROSSING ROAD LEE WALKING AWAY/PARTY MEMBERS CROSSING ROAD PROGRESS SINGAPORE CANDIDATE ANG YONG GUAN WALKING UP TO STAGE WITH COLLEAGUES AFTER REGISTERING FOR CANDIDACY ANG SAYING (English): "FOR COUNTRY, FOR PEOPLE, YOU DESERVE BETTER"
- Embargoed: 17th July 2020 03:50
- Keywords: Lee Hsien Yang Pritam Singh Progressive Singapore Party Sylvia Lim Tan Cheng Bock Workers' Party general election opposition parliament
- Location: SINGAPORE
- City: SINGAPORE
- Country: Singapore
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA002CLO703R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Opposition parties will face off against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) in Singapore's upcoming general election on July 10.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's PAP, which has won every election since Singapore's independence in 1965 and has never seen its vote share drop below 60%, is expected to win comfortably.
The main opposition Workers' Party is likely to pose the stiffest challenge, but currently holds only six of parliament's 89 elected seats.
The new Progress Singapore Party, led by former PAP lawmaker and presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock, could cause an upset in a few seats, and has won backing from the prime minister's estranged brother, Lee Hsien Yang.
Lee had criticised the ruling PAP, saying in a Facebook post in June that "the PAP has lost its way." He added that the current government is "distinctly different" from when his father Lee Kuan Yew was prime minister.
The election is seen as a litmus test for Singapore's new generation of leaders, with Lee Hsien Loong, a scion of the city-state's founding family, planning to step down in the coming years.
After its worst result in 2011 -- albeit a comfortable 60% of the vote -- the PAP accelerated foreign labour curbs to allay citizens' unease about immigration levels and the impact on job prospects and property prices.
Lee has said the coronavirus situation in the city-state, which has recorded some of Asia's highest infection rates fuelled by outbreaks in migrant workers' dormitories, had stabilized and he was satisfied an election could be held safely.
(Production: Joseph Campbell) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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