President Halimah Yacob dissolves Parliament, 2020 Singapore General Election will be held on 10th July
In the midst of a global pandemic, the Elections Department of Singapore had announced on 23rd June 2020 that the 2020 General Election will be held on the 10th of July 2020. This announcement came after President of Singapore, Halimah Yacob had dissolved the ongoing 13th Parliament of Singapore earlier on the same day.
The announcement that the Parliament has been dissolved was made by the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong. The Prime Minister justified his actions for calling an imminent election at the time of a global pandemic by stating that the COVID-19 outbreak is relatively stable in the country, further he assured that for the elections to be carried out safely, actions such as- suspension of mass rallies, an increased number of polling stations, designated time-bands for the senior citizens to vote, etc will be taken.
In order to reduce the risks of virus transmission, the Election Department issued further safety guidelines that the political parties will be required to follow, such as for door-to-door campaigns a maximum of 5 persons will be allowed in a group, etc.
Parliament of Singapore
It is a unicameral parliament with 105 seats. 47 seats is the majority mark that is required by a political party or coalition to form a government.
- Out of 105, 93 members are elected through the Parliamentary Elections, 3 seats are reserved under the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) while the remaining 9 seats are reserved for the Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP).
- The 3 NCMP seats are for those who have lost in the General Elections of the Parliament but are among the best performing losers (top 3 those who have lost in the General Election by least Margin).
- 9 NMP members are appointed directly by the President of Singapore.
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Month: Current Affairs - June, 2020