What does Singapore PM-in-waiting Heng Swee Keat’s 2019 budget say about an early election?
- Singaporeans will get US$7.3 billion worth of subsidies and cash handouts
- But while the government will log a deficit, its huge accumulated surplus means it still has more than US$11 billion to spend before the next election, due by 2021, is called
There was intense talk by economists and analysts that he would use this budget as his platform to launch the election campaign for his party, the People’s Action Party (PAP), in some style. Singaporeans were also looking forward to seeing a huge cash bonus in advance of what would be an early general election this year, ahead of the 2021 deadline.
“Pre-delivery, it had the makings of an election budget coming at the tail end of the Lunar New Year,” said political observer and Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan.
But if the delivery of the 2019 budget was anything to go by, a general election is unlikely to happen this year. The Singapore government has a lot left in its coffers for a true bonanza before the polls, despite announcing nearly S$10 billion (US$7.3 billion) worth of subsidies and cash handouts.
Still, there are some signs from this budget that an early election is possible. It bears similarities to the budgets released during the last two general elections – 2011 and 2015.
