| Country: | Singapore |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1988 Singaporean general election |
| Previous Year: | 1988 |
| Outgoing Members: | 7th Parliament of Singapore |
| Next Election: | 1997 Singaporean general election |
| Next Year: | 1997 |
| Elected Members: | 8th Parliament of Singapore |
| Seats For Election: | All 81 directly elected seats in Parliament (and up to 3 NCMPs) |
| Election Date: | 31 August 1991 |
| Registered: | 847,716 / 1,692,384 |
| Turnout: | 95.03% (0.33pp) |
| Image1: | Goh Chok Tong 20080328.jpg |
| Leader1: | Goh Chok Tong |
| Party1: | People's Action Party |
| Last Election1: | 63.17%, 80 seats |
| Seats1: | 77 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| Popular Vote1: | 477,760 |
| Percentage1: | 60.97% |
| Swing1: | 2.20pp |
| Leader2: | Chiam See Tong |
| Party2: | Singapore Democratic Party |
| Last Election2: | 11.80%, 1 seat |
| Seats2: | 3 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 93,856 |
| Percentage2: | 11.98% |
| Swing2: | 0.18pp |
| Image3: | JoshuaBenjaminJeyaretnam-Singapore-20051107-cropped.jpg |
| Leader3: | J. B. Jeyaretnam |
| Party3: | Workers' Party of Singapore |
| Last Election3: | 16.72%, 1 seat |
| Seats3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 112,010 |
| Percentage3: | 14.29% |
| Swing3: | 2.43pp |
| Prime Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Prime Minister after election |
| Before Election: | Goh Chok Tong |
| After Election: | Goh Chok Tong |
| Before Party: | People's Action Party |
| After Party: | People's Action Party |
| Map Size: | 350px |
General elections were held in Singapore on 31 August 1991. President Wee Kim Wee dissolved parliament on 14 August 1991 on the advice of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 77 of the 81 seats while the opposition won four. The Worker's Party won Hougang SMC and the Singapore Democratic Party retained Potong Pasir SMC and won Nee Soon Central SMC and Bukit Gombak SMC. This marked the largest representation for opposition parties in Parliament since independence, and was the first time an opposition party won multiple SMCs.
Voter turnout was 95%, although this figure represented the turnout in the 25 constituencies to be contested,[1] with PAP candidates earning walkovers in the other 41; this was the second general election, after the 1968, where PAP returned to power on nomination day due to a majority of walkovers; a collaborative effort amongst all the opposition parties headed by Chiam See Tong decided to not contest all seats, so as to reassure voters to vote in ease for the opposition, known as a "by-election effect". This was to date, the only election, where no Non-constituency Member of Parliament seats were offered, as the four seats won by the opposition is more than the minimum number of opposition MPs in Parliament at three.
This was the inaugural election for Prime Minister and current PAP secretary-general Goh Chok Tong after then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew stepped down on 28 November 1990. Goh decided to call a snap election merely three years after the last election to court a fresh mandate, setting Parliament's shortest term ever.
An unprecedented four seats were won by the opposition, the biggest number since the 1963 election, and its share of votes fell for the third consecutive time since 1984, down to then-lowest share of 61.0%. The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) had eight out of nine candidates came in among the top ten opposition candidates, with the party added two more spoils to the seat as well as retaining Potong Pasir SMC by leader Chiam See Tong in a record-69.6% vote, clocking in then the best performance for an opposition party at 48.55% of the votes and becoming the main opposition party in Parliament. The Workers' Party (WP) made its second in-road into the legislature with the victory of its organizing secretary Low Thia Khiang (who previously contested Tiong Bahru GRC in the last election and Hougang SMC on this election), who would years later become WP secretary-general and leader (2001-2018). All three incumbents who were defeated in the election were one-term MPs including Seet Ai Mee, Ng Pock Too and Tang Guan Seng; only Tang returned to the 1997 election as a member in Ang Mo Kio GRC.
At a post-election press conference on the night of 31 August, Goh glumly attributed the loss to his "open and consultative style of government" and pledged to re-evaluate his style. Since the introduction of the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament scheme in 1984, this was the first (and to date the only) election no NCMP seats were offered since four elected opposition seats exceeded the minimum of three NCMP seats allotted; this led to the eventual retirement of Lee Siew Choh in 1993, despite his team of Eunos GRC were narrowly defeated by an inferior margin.
During the time where Ong Teng Cheong and Lee Hsien Loong were suffering from cancer, Goh went to call an by-election for his constituency (Marine Parade GRC), citing its best chances of winning for "political self-renewal" to get people of "ministerial calibre" to join the government under PAP, and paving the chance for J. B. Jeyaretnam to participate in the by-election after his ban expiring that year.
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 8 August | Publication of Electoral Boundaries report | |
| 14 August | Dissolution of 7th Parliament | |
| 21 August | Nomination Day | |
| 31 August | Polling day | |
| 6 January 1992 |
See main article: List of Singaporean electoral divisions (1991–97).
Another group of changes were necessary as it increased from three seats to four. Some of them are in the basis of expansion due to the fast growth of towns. The newer divisions are those because of developments of Simei, Jurong West, Bishan and Pasir Ris respectively. Many existing Single Member Constituencies were either remain intact or absorbed to GRCs, though existing GRCs have also created newer divisions.
| Constituency | Changes/New Group Representation Constituencies |
|---|---|
| Absorbed Paya Lebar SMC | |
| New Constituency Formed from Ang Mo Kio, Kebun Baru, Teck Ghee and Yio Chu Kang SMCs | |
| Absorbed Fengshan and Siglap SMCs Tanah Merah division was absorbed into Bedok division | |
| Absorbed Clementi and West Coast divisions from Pasir Panjang GRC Alexandra division was absorbed into Brickworks and Queenstown divisions, while Pasir Panjang division was absorbed into Brickworks division | |
| Absorbed Punggol SMC | |
| Pasir Ris division created | |
| Hong Kah West division was split from Hong Kah South division | |
| Absorbed Kallang and a portion of Whampoa SMC | |
| New Constituency Formed from Cairnhill, Kampong Glam, Kim Seng, Moulmein, and a portion of Whampoa SMC | |
| Absorbed MacPherson SMC | |
| Absorbed Bukit Panjang SMC | |
| Split Changkat division to include Changkat South division | |
| New Constituency Formed from Henderson, Tanjong Pagar and Telok Blangah SMCs, and a majority of Tiong Bahru GRC | |
| New Constituency Formed from Serangoon Gardens and Thomson SMCs with divisions splitting to form Bishan East and Bishan North, respectively | |
| Absorbed Kim Keat SMC | |
A total of five candidates (one from the PKMS party) forfeited their deposit. The narrowest margin in the election was Nee Soon Central with SDP's Cheo Chai Chen defeating Ng Pock Too at a 0.66% margin. Buona Vista's Peter Sung had the best result of this election at 79.42%; Potong Pasir SDP candidate's Chiam See Tong's result of 69.64% was to date, the best-performing result for any opposition party in post-independence Singapore (subsequently, PAP's Andy Gan's 30.36% was also, to date, the worst-performing result for any PAP candidate as well). This was also the last election to date to see walkovers on Single Member Constituencies.