The World - News from Aug. 18, 1988

Singapore’s government dissolved Parliament and called general elections for next month, 15 months ahead of schedule. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew advised President Wee Kim Wee to dissolve the 81-seat Parliament, a government statement said, and elections were scheduled for Sept. 3. The elections come amid mounting pressure on the government from the opposition, whose leaders accuse Lee of quashing dissent by throwing opponents in jail. Voting is compulsory in parliamentary elections, which were last held in 1984 and were not scheduled to have been held again until December, 1989. Political analysts say a victory for Lee’s ruling People’s Action Party, in power since 1959, is a foregone conclusion.