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Singapore election: six twists in the campaign as the People’s Action Party and opposition battle for votes
- Lee Hsien Yang’s support of the PSP, Heng Swee Keat’s East Coast Plan and Vivian Balakrishnan’s debate with Jamus Lim and Chee Soon Juan were among the most-talked about moments
- Singapore enters a cooling-off period on Thursday before going to the polls on Friday
Reading Time:7 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Singapore’s nine-day general election campaign comes to an end on Wednesday.
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At midnight, all 192 candidates must suspend campaign activities to comply with a day-long “cooling off” period before voters make their choice on Friday.
Going into the contest, some observers had predicted the hustings would be sedate, given the ban on mass rallies and restrictions on other physical political events because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the campaigning has been far from that, as the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and its key opponents among the 10 opposition parties locked horns – at times in acrimonious fashion – online and through the media.
With campaigning taking place largely on social media, it has been a 24/7 battle for hearts and minds.
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Parties found themselves under pressure to react to attacks instantaneously, and also had to contend with supporters from opposing sides wielding derisory memes and edited video clips of the smallest of gaffes by candidates on the campaign trail.
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