Year 1968

PAP Won First Singapore General Election

Saturday, 13th April 1968

The first general election for Parliament after independence was held on 13 Apr 1968. There are 23 registered political parties. PAP won all 58 seats and for the first time, there was a one party rule in Singapore. The 1968 General Election, which is boycotted by Barisan Sosialis.


Britain announced withdrawal of troops

Tuesday, 16th January 1968

Mr Harold Wilson, the then Prime Minister of UK, announced the intention to withdraw all of Britain's 35,000 troops stationed in Singapore by end 1971. This shocked the nation as it was less than three years into independence from Malaysia. The situation had Mr Lee Kuan Yew saying, "If you go out too fast, I will just have to hire mercenaries rather than have a power vacuum."


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