1979 Singaporean by-elections

The by-elections were held on 10 February for seven constituencies, with the nomination day held on 31 January. With 80,075 registered voters, the 1979 by-elections remain the largest by-election to have ever taken place in Singapore.

1979 Singaporean by-elections

← 1977 10 February 1979 1981 →
7 seats to the Parliament of Singapore
Registered	80,075
Turnout	74,887 (93.52%) 1.39%
First party Second party   Leader Lee Kuan Yew J. B. Jeyaretnam Party PAP WP Seats won 7 0 Seat change Popular vote 53,222 8,036 Percentage 72.69% 10.98% Swing 1.37% 5.59%
MP before election Govindaswamy Perumal Yong Nyuk Lin Ng Yeow Chong Ong Soo Chuan Ivan Baptist Teong Eng Siong Shaik Ahmad bin Abdul Haleem PAP Elected MP Devan Nair Teh Cheang Wan Eugene Yap Koh Lip Lin Howe Yoon Chong Tony Tan Rohan bin Kamis PAP

All PAP candidates, Devan Nair, Eugene Yap Giau Cheng, Howe Yoon Chong, Tony Tan, Rohan bin Kamis, Koh Lip Lin, and Teh Cheang Wan, won their respective contests with two walkovers, defeating candidates from Democratic Progressive Party, United People's Front, and an independent candidate.

Background

Similar to 1970 by-elections, as part of the People's Action Party continuous initiative to renew its ranks, the PAP had invited six instead of five veteran PAP Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) to resign. Also, with the demise of Anson's MP P. Govindaswamy, the 1979 by-election is regarded as the biggest-ever by-election in Singapore's history where there are seven seats namely Anson, Geylang West, Mountbatten, Nee Soon, Potong Pasir, Sembawang, and Telok Blangah up for grabs. This by-election also sees the introduction of two prominent candidates: the first was Tony Tan Keng Yam, who would lassume the role of the Cabinet Minister after the by-election victory in Sembawang, and later went on to become the 7th Deputy Prime Minister from 1995, and the 7th President of Singapore from 2011; the second was Chiam See Tong, who made his debut on Potong Pasir would later be elected for that area on his third attempt in the 1984 General elections with his second attempt made on the next year's general election.

Since this is the biggest ever by election in Singapore's history, therefore key opposition stalwarts emerged to contest with the exception of Barisan Sosialis which was then criticised by United People's Front (Singapore) and left the only two constituencies out of seven, namely Nee Soon and Geylang West to be uncontested.

Election deposit

The election deposit was set at $1200. Similar to previous elections, the election deposit will be forfeited if the particular candidate had failed to secure at least 12.5% or one-eighth of the votes.

Results

By-election 1979: Anson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Chengara Veetil Devan Nair	8,127	86.2	N/A
	DPP	Johnny Wee Lai Seng	1,300	13.8	N/A
Majority			6,827	72.4	N/A
Turnout			9,694	86.2	N/A
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1979: Geylang West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Teh Cheang Wan	Walkover
Majority
Turnout			20,874
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1979: Mountbatten

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Eugene Yap Giau Cheng	10,528	79.9	+14.0
	DPP	Seow Khee Leng	2,642	20.1	−14.0
Majority			7,886	59.8	+28
Turnout			13,536	94.9	−0.4
	PAP hold		Swing	+14.0

By-election 1979: Nee Soon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Koh Lip Lin	Walkover
Majority
Turnout			15,932
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

By-election 1979: Potong Pasir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Howe Yoon Chong	9,056	66.8	−8.0
	Independent	Chiam See Tong	4,491	33.2	+33.2
Majority			4,565	33.6	−16
Turnout			13,854	94.2	+0.6
	PAP hold		Swing	-8.0

By-election 1979: Sembawang

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Tony Tan Keng Yam	12,824	78.4	−5.2
	United People's Front	Harbans Singh	3,528	21.6	+5.2
Majority			9,296	56.8	−10.4
Turnout			16,714	94.6	−0.2
	PAP hold		Swing	-5.2

By-election 1979: Telok Blangah

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PAP	Rohan bin Kamis	12,687	61.2	N/A
	WP	Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam	8,036	38.8	N/A
Majority			4,651	22.4	N/A
Turnout			21,089	95.0	N/A
	PAP hold		Swing	N/A

References

• Background of 1979 By election
• Results of 1979 By election