Australia, Singapore Head To The Polls

Canada isn’t the only nation voting soon. Australia and Singapore will hold elections on Saturday, May 3, with cost-of-living concerns dominating both contests, Ed Johnson reported for Bloomberg Weekend.

Polls suggest the Albanese-led Labor is likely to stay in power, either with its slim parliamentary majority or through alliances with minority parties and independents. I Photo: ALP

In Australia, soaring rents, high interest rates, and persistent inflation have shaped the campaign, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor government seeks a second term.

Both Labor and the opposition Liberal-National coalition, led by Peter Dutton, have pledged support for first-time homebuyers amid a national housing shortage.

Polls suggest Labor is likely to stay in power, either with its slim parliamentary majority or through alliances with minority parties and independents.

In Singapore, rising living costs are also a central issue. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has introduced cash handouts and expanded social welfare programs to ease economic pain exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wong’s People’s Action Party has ruled Singapore since independence in 1965 and has never come close to losing its parliamentary supermajority. However, the opposition has gained some ground, with the Workers’ Party winning 10 seats in 2020 — a record for a Singaporean opposition party.