And there doesn't seem to be much light at the end of the tunnel for the fractured opposition, which has never won more than four seats at an election since independence and faces huge hurdles erected by the PAP to marginalize dissent.

Yet there is still significant discontent at the PAP--police arrested 16 opposition supporters on November 2 for allegedly taking part in a riot--even though most people believe its record of maintaining average economic growth of 8.7 percent over the years is solid. The majority were also convinced by its campaign message that no one else had the experience and wherewithal to pull Singapore out of its slump and by its vow to create more jobs and restructure the economy in the years ahead.

"A lot of Singaporeans are poor and suffering," says one disgruntled 40-year-old who supports his wife, two children and mother on a salary of S$1500 (US$825) per month. Half of it goes to pay his monthly mortgage bill. "Life is hard," he says angrily. "Some are worse off than me."

For people like him, the Singapore Democratic Party struck a chord with its call for a minimum wage and the payment of retrenchment benefits. Also popular was the SDP's call for a "Singaporeans First" hiring policy. Many locals complain the reliance on foreign workers has cost them jobs.

But support for the opposition in the two wards it holds was whittled down by carrots offered by the PAP, which refuted the SDP manifesto and promised that priority for the upgrading of public housing estates--where most Singaporeans live--would be given to those precincts that gave between 45 percent and 50 percent support to the ruling party.

And though the opposition might do slightly better at elections if they put on a united front, they still face a skewed electoral system, frequent use of defamation litigation, and a general climate of fear about expressing alternative views on major issues. Other hurdles include redrawn electoral maps shortly before polls are called, winner-take-all multi-seat wards, deposits of S$13,000 per candidate that are forfeited if a certain percentage of votes is not won and a biased state-run media. The PAP denies the playing field is uneven and argues the opposition lacks good candidates and ideas.

"I don't believe that the PAP has much to gloat about," says Lily Rahim, a Singapore specialist at the University of Sydney. "The political and electoral playing field, which severely handicaps opposition parties and dissenting voices is neither free nor fair."

For some voters the election was as much about the need for opposition voices in parliament as it was about the economy. At an SDP evening rally on the eve of the poll, frustrated opposition supporters vented their anger at the PAP and a system they claim ensures political contests are no contests.

"I have friends who were afraid to come tonight for fear of being noted at an opposition rally," says a self-employed man in his forties. Adds a woman standing nearby: "We need to have a voice--a system of checks and balances so the PAP can't do whatever it wants. If not, we might as well be a communist country where you only have one party."

THE DEFAMATION CARD

And a touchy one at that. Early in the campaign, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong threatened a defamation suit against SDP leader Chee Soon Chuan. Chee had heckled the premier, suggesting S$17 billion in taxpayers' money was lent to former Indonesian President Suharto years earlier. PAP officials say the loan never went ahead. Chee was ordered to make a formal apology and pay undisclosed damages. He later lost at the polls.

Critics accuse the PAP of using legal action to intimidate opponents. "The misuse of defamation suits by PAP leaders has contributed to a climate of self-censorship in Singapore," London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International said in a statement on election day. PAP officials claim they file lawsuits reluctantly and only resort to them to protect their reputations from unfair attacks.

Either way, parliament remains the loneliest place in Singapore if you're an opposition member.