1963 Singaporean general election

Although the People's Action Party (PAP) had won 43 seats in the 1959 elections, they lost four seats in 1961 (two were from the by-election defeats, and two defected to the new United People's Party (UPP)). A further 13 legislators were expelled from PAP for voting against the government in a no-confidence motion on 20 July 1961; the dissidents subsequently formed a new party, the Barisan Sosialis (BS), alleging PAP as a communist front. The combination of by-election defeats, defections and expulsions reduced the PAP by 17 seats down to 26, leaving PAP with a one-seat majority. On 3 July 1962, while the integration referendum debate was in procession, the PAP lost its majority following the resignation of legislator Ho Puay Choo, who later joined BS on 11 August. Five days later, UPP legislator S. V. Lingam rejoined PAP, giving it back its one-seat majority. However, the majority was lost again on 21 August following the death of health minister Ahmad Ibrahim, who was the MP for Sembawang. BS planned to field Lim Chin Siong to contest in a by-election, but it was not held. On 31 August 1963, Singapore was declared fully independent from the United Kingdom (full internal self-government was granted in 1959) with PAP declared as trustees until the merger with Malaysia could be complete. On 3 September, Lee Kuan Yew dissolved the Legislative Assembly in accordance with procedure, the Proclamation of Malaysia was ratified on 16 September, and elections are to be held on 21 September. As part of the Malaysia Agreement, the head of government in Singapore were permitted to retain the title of "Prime Minister" despite there already being a prime minister of Malaysia, as Singapore were given more autonomy in some areas than the other states of Malaysia. ==Timeline==

The elections, held in the midst of Singapore's merger with Malaysia, are remembered as the PAP's hardest-fought as the party faced intensive challenges from three other parties that fielded nearly full slates. BS collated with Parti Rakyat, and fielded candidates in all but two seats, while UPP had an unusually large number of candidates. Earlier that year on 2 February, as part of an anti-communist security operation, the PAP government with support of the Malaysian federal government and the British government had launched Operation Coldstore to detain several BS leaders, including Lim Chin Siong, which severely hampered BS. On the final night of campaigning, PAP officials issued a sudden warning: if BS were to win the election and defeat the PAP, the federal government in Kuala Lumpur might deploy troops to Singapore and invoke emergency powers, bypassing the incoming BS-led government, allegedly due to its perceived pro-communist stance. This last-minute tactic, seen by many as fearmongering, left BS with no opportunity to respond. Nevertheless, it appeared to sway public sentiment and may have contributed significantly to the PAP's victory the following day. The sole Workers' Party (WP) legislator David Marshall resigned from the party he founded and became the only independent. Another participant was Singapore Alliance, an extension of the ruling federal Alliance Party in Malaysia, which was a coalition consisting of the Singapore People's Alliance (SPA) along with the local branches of UMNO, the Malayan Chinese Association and Malayan Indian Congress. However, former Chief Minister and leader Lim Yew Hock opted not to run in the elections, citing a defamation campaign by the PAP. ==Results==

In terms of votes, Cairnhill candidate Lim Kim San had the best scoring result of 66.46%; however, 29 out of the 51 constituencies had elected by plurality as a result of first-past-the-post voting. Delta's MP-elect Chan Choy Siong had the narrowest winning margin of 0.46%. A total of 92 candidates lost their election deposits, with the lowest being 0.72%, held by Moulmein's independent candidate Soo Tho Siu Hee. By constituency Source: ==Aftermath and analysis==

'' the day after the 1963 election, reporting on the results. The PAP won a landslide victory, securing 37 seats and retaining its two-thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly. This result had been uncertain in the lead-up to the vote, and while the PAP emerged as the clear winner, its overall vote share was only 46.93%, the lowest in its history. Several key factors contributed to this outcome despite strong competition from BS. One major reason was the PAP's last-minute warning that if BS formed the government, the federal government in Kuala Lumpur could respond by sending troops into Singapore and enforcing emergency powers. Many voters were also concerned that BS' opposition to merger with Malaya would jeopardise such negotiations. Support for merger was strong among the public, and BS' alignment with Indonesia and the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) raised further alarm, especially as Indonesia had declared a Konfrontasi and begun provocative military activity in Borneo. The Secretary General of UMNO, Syed Jaafar Albar, reacted even more strongly to the defeat, publicly vowing in the Malaysian federal parliament to "fix" Lee Kuan Yew using "both words and fists". Other Malay extremists delivered equally heated speeches at various meetings and alleged that the PAP had "intimidated" Malays into voting against UMNO, with some even burning an effigy of Lee at a meeting in Singapore to display their anger. and the Singapore People's Alliance, one of its membership parties, was dissolved on 16 May 1965, shortly before Singapore's independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. Distribution of Singapore's seats in the Dewan Rakyat The distribution of 15 seats from Singapore in Malaysia's lower house of Parliament, the Dewan Rakyat, was based on the outcome of the election. PAP was allocated 12, which were given to Prime Minister Lee, Deputy Prime Minister Toh Chin Chye, ministers Goh Keng Swee, Ong Pang Boon, S. Rajaratnam, Yong Nyuk Lin, Jek Yeun Thong, Lim Kim San, Othman Wok and assembly members Abdul Rahim Ishak, Wee Toon Boon and Ho See Beng. BS was allocated 3, which were given to Chia Thye Poh, Lim Huan Boon and Kow Kee Seng. ==See also==