The People’s Action Party (PAP) in Singapore has come out on top, despite a drop in its majority and popularity, retaining power following the events of Friday’s general elections – the first major election in the country amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Giving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who has led the country since 2004, yet another term in office, the PAP won 83 of the country’s 93 parliamentary seats, clinching 61.2% of total votes, down from nearly 70% recorded in the last elections held in 2015, but still slightly higher than its poorest performance of 60% in 2011.

“We have a clear mandate but the percentage of the popular vote is not as high as I had hoped for,” Lee said on Saturday. “The results reflect the pain and uncertainty that Singaporeans feel in this (Covid-19) crisis.”

PAP, which has been in power in Singapore since 1959, however, lost 10 seats to its main opposition, the Workers’ Party. This loss, which pales in comparison to its landslide victory, is a major win for the Workers’ Party, which records its highest since the country’s first general elections in 1968. This is a win which is also indicative of the ruling party’s weaning hold on the people of Singapore.

How did Singapore conduct its Groundbreaking General Elections?

Toeing the same lane as countries like South Korea and Serbia who went to the polls in April and June respectively despite the coronavirus pandemic, Singapore enforced several safety measures to ensure the safety of the electorates and election officers.

To make voting safer, voters were mandated to sanitize their hands, wear disposable gloves, and also wear a face mask to reduce the chances of transmission. A two-hour time-slot was also given to voters to reduce crowding at polling centres. Mobile polling teams took ballot boxes to citizens who had recently returned from overseas and were in hotel quarantine.

So far, Singapore has had its fair share of coronavirus cases recording one of the highest numbers in Asia with over 40,000 cases.