05/09/2011, 00.00
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Singapore: Prime Minister wins election and promises a redistribution of wealth

Lee Hsien Loong's party wins 81 seats out of 87 and 60.1% of the vote. Five seats to the opposition, in most contested elections since independence. Positive sign for the index; in 2010 the GDP grew by 14.5%. Competition for jobs and housing and disparities between citizens remain unsolved problems.

Singapore (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Improving the lives of citizens by strengthening the economy, attracting investment and "brains", encouraging firms to diversify production, a change of growth based solely on increasing the workforce by raising the incomes of middle class and poorer classes. These are the promises of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, head of the new government that won elections last May 7. However, the majority People's Action Party has seen a drop in approval ratings since the last elections, in favor of the opposition led by the Workers' Party. Meanwhile, the stock exchange rates have the highest growth in the recent period, with a positive growth around 1% 3.

The ruling party has retained power in the city-state in Southeast Asia, winning 81 parliamentary seats out of 87 available. The success came at the end of the most contested electoral battle since gaining independence in 1965. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 59, won with 60.1%, a margin that has decreased significantly from 66.6% to 75.3% in 2006 and 2001. The Workers' Party, the main opposition movement, won five seats available in the district of Aljunied and single seat in the constituency of Houngang. The only seat not to be subject to electoral challenge is that of Lee Kuan Yew, Minister Mentor, 87 years and father of the current Prime Minister, independence hero in the battle against the British Empire and first head of government in history of the island nation.

Before the vote, the current Prime Minister apologized - a rare gesture in thecity-states politics  – for not having achieved public housing or enhancing the transport system. Two of the main problems in Singapore, along with the rising cost of living and fighting with foreigners for jobs and housing. In fact, over one third of the 5.1 million population consists of foreigners and immigrants with permanent visas. Chua Hak Bin, an economist at Merrill Lynch of Bank of America, suggests a radical rethinking of government policies, with greater influence of the opposition. "

Smaller than New York and without any natural resources, the city-state in 2010 recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) of 285 billion Singapore dollars (about 231 billion U.S. dollars), up 14.5% The most significant of all Asia. However, the wealth is not distributed evenly and inflation forecasts announce a rate of 3-4%, a figure high on the local situation. Economic growth has above all increased disparity between people, an increase of the Gini coefficient - introduced by the Italian statistician Corrado Gini, is a measure of inequality of a distribution, ed - which amounted to 0.48 (in 2000 was 0.444) out of a measure of between 0 and 1 (complete inequality).

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