Government&PoliticalPeople's Action Party is the centre-right political party in Singapore and is country's ruling party since 1959 (when Lee Kuan Yew became the first Prime Minister of Singapore). From 1963-1965, Singapore joined Malaysia and became one of the 14 states of Malaysia. However, due to the ideological differences between leaders of the State of Singapore and the Federal Government of Malaysia, it resulted in disagreements in issues about political. economics and politacal. Eventually, in 1965, the Prime Minister of Malaysia decided upon the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation. Since the, Singapore became an independent country and the government system did not change much until now.
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Lee Kwan Yew(Center) |
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Voting System&Election
The first general election in Singapore was held in 1948. Only 6 out of 22 seats on the Legislative council became directly elected. At that time, voting was not compulsory. However, since 1959, voting is compulsory to all eligible voters. Also, in this year, it was the first time which the general election held under the new constitution thus all seats in the Legislative council were elected.
For further information, please click the link below: http://www.eld.gov.sg/elections.html |
Economy
In 1965, after Singapore became an independent country, Singapore faced a small domestic market. At that period, poverty and unemployment are two very serious problems in the country. The average of the unemployment rate was 14% and GDP per capita was US$516. To solve the problems, the Singapore government proposed the Economic Development Board to help sustain and improve Singapore's economic situation. As a result, the GDP per capita had a significant growth.( 1970, US$925----->2000, US$23,794). For unemployment rate, the average from 1986-2015 is 2.47%. In 1986, the unemployment rate reaches another peak, which was 6%. However, in the second quarter of 1990, it decreased to it lowest point, which is 1.4 %. |