The People’s Action Party (PAP) has been forced to reflect deeply on its own political durability following Barisan Nasional’s shock defeat in Malaysia’s 2018 general election, Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan said.
Speaking on lessons drawn from the political upheaval experienced in Malaysia, Balakrishnan said the PAP, which has governed Singapore uninterrupted since 1959, once took comfort in Umno and BN’s long dominance of the Malaysian political landscape, stretching back to 1956.
“Then 2018 happened. So now the pressure is on the PAP. It is like being the last man standing,” he told Malaysian journalists during a recent media roundtable.
“What it means is that each succeeding election is going to get more and more difficult for us.”
BN had historically dominated Malaysian politics. Together with its predecessor, the Alliance Party, it governed the nation uninterrupted for nearly 61 years following independence in 1957.
But in the 14th general election, Pakatan Harapan swept to power with 121 parliamentary seats, while BN’s share plunged from 133 to 79 seats, alongside the loss of most state governments.
