Polls open in Singapore general election

Polling stations opened in Singapore Saturday morning in the country's most hotly contested general election in decades, with the opposition seeking to erode the dominance of the People's Action Party (PAP). The People's Action Party (PAP), in power since 1959, won 82 of the 84 seats contested in 2006 but this time faces its most vigorous challenge in decades with tens of thousands of people attending opposition rallies. Six opposition parties are fighting the PAP, which was taken aback by the depth of voter resentment and forced to issue a rare apology for policy mistakes while appealing for support from new voters. Close to half of the 2.2 million voters were casting ballots for the first time, partly due to uncontested seats in past polls, adding an element of uncertainty in a country where publishing pre-election poll results is banned. More than 50 Aljunied voters were already in the queue at a polling station located in a public housing estate before it opened at 8:00 am (0000 GMT). Voters have until 8:00 pm to cast ballots. Most parliamentary seats are fought in clusters in which each party must field four to six candidates that have to include members of the Malay and Indian minorities in the largely ethnic Chinese nation. Not all of the 87 seats in the incoming parliament were being contested on Saturday. Five have already been won in a walkover by a PAP team led by the republic's 87-year-old independence leader Lee Kuan Yew.