Political structure

Official name: Republic of Singapore

Form of state: Parliamentary democracy

The executive: The prime minister and the cabinet are appointed by the president and are responsible to parliament

Head of State: The president, S R Nathan, took office for a six-year term on September 1st 1999

National legislature: Unicameral parliament of 84 elected members: nine members of parliament (MPs) are directly elected from single-member constituencies, and 75 are elected in teams of between four and six to represent the 15 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). At least one member of any group standing for the GRCs must be from an ethnic minority that is, non-Chinese. Non-constituency and nominated MPs also sit in parliament

Legal system: Courts of first instance ultimately lead, on appeal, to the Supreme Court, members of which are appointed by the president

National elections: November 3rd 2001; the next election is due by early 2007

National government: The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) won 75.3% of the vote in November 2001 and holds 82 seats in parliament. The cabinet was reshuffled in August 2004

Main political organisations: Government: PAP; opposition: Workers' Party (WP), Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
 
Main members of cabinet:
Prime minister & minister for finance: Lee Hsien Loong
Deputy prime minister & minister for law: Shunmugan Jayakumar 
Deputy prime minister & co-ordinating minister for security & defence: Tony Tan Keng Yam
Communications, information & the arts: Lee Boon Yang
Defence: Teo Chee Hean
Education: Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Environment & Muslim affairs: Yacoob Ibrahim
Foreign affairs & law: George Yong - Boon Yeo
Health Khaw: Boon Wan
Home affairs Wong Kah Seng
Manpower: Ng Eng Hen
Minister mentor, prime minister's office: Lee Kuan Yew
National development: Mah Bow Tan
Senior minister: Goh Chok Tong
Trade & industry: Lim Hng Kiang
Transport: Yeo Cheow Tong
Prime minister's office: Lim Swee Say
Prime minister's office: Lim Boon Heng
Acting minister for community development: Vivian Balakrishnan Acting second minister for finance: Raymond Lim Siang Keat

Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore: Goh Chok Tong

 

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