Singaporean general election, 1988

1984 ←

3 September 1988

→ 1991

81 seats (plus 2 NCMPs) to the Parliament of Singapore. Only 50 seats contested; 41 seats needed for a majority.

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Lee Kuan Yew	J.B. Jeyaretnam	Chiam See Tong
Party	PAP	WP	SDP
Leader's seat	Tanjong Pagar	Not contesting	Potong Pasir
Last election	77 seats, 64.8%	1 seat, 3.7%	1 seat, 3.7%
Seats won	80	0 + 2 NCMPs	1
Seat change	3	1
Popular vote	848,029	224,473	158,341
Percentage	63.2%	12.6% (total) / 38.5% (valid)	11.8% (total) / 39.5% (valid)
Swing	1.6%	6.4%/3.4%	5.7%/6.6%

Prime Minister before election

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

Elected Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

Only 50 seats contested; 41 seats needed for a majority.

Lee Kuan Yew
PAP

General elections were held in Singapore on 3 September 1988. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 80 of the 81 seats. Voter turnout was 94.7%, although this figure represents the turnout in the 50 constituencies to be contested, with PAP candidates earning walkovers in the other 31.

Group Representation Constituencies were introduced in this general election to ensure ethnic minority representation in Parliament, starting with three joint constituencies. This was the last time Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew led the PAP in an election and another two stalwarts, former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Toh Chin Chye and Senior Minister S. Rajaratnam, retired for the PAP's renewal process.

Two seats were vacated in 1986 - the seat of Anson for Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament and chief J. B. Jeyaretnam and Geylang West of PAP MP Teh Cheang Wan, the former convicted and disqualified as MP for improper party accounts, while the latter committed suicide while on investigations for corruption - but no by-election was held. The Workers' Party absorbed two parties, Barisan Sosialis (BS) and Singapore United Front to become the largest opposition party and also allied with the Malay party PKMS as one common unit.

Former solicitor-general and Law Society president, Francis Seow, standing under the WP ticket in Eunos Group Representation Constituency with veteran politician Dr Lee Siew Choh, came under fire from the PAP leadership for his alleged dubious financial circumstances. Nevertheless, the strong WP team caught PAP's attention and Tay Eng Soon, a popular PAP stalwart, was switched to face the team. In the end, PAP won the GRC by an extremely narrow margin of 50.9% for the PAP and 49.1% for the WP.

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