Singaporeans to vote for new Government on Friday amid coronavirus pandemic

Singaporeans will vote on Friday in the region’s first general election since the COVID-19 outbreak that will test Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s handling of the unprecedented health crisis that has pushed the city-state’s economy towards the worst-ever recession in nearly two decades.

Lee last month called for general elections 10 months ahead of the schedule to “clear the decks” and give the new government a fresh five-year mandate to focus on the national agenda.

Prime Minister Lee’s People’s Action Party (PAP) has won every election since the late 1950s. When the party’s share of the vote dipped to about 60 per cent in 2011, it was considered an upset.