Why and How did PAP win the 1959 election?

Question:

Why and How did PAP win the 1959 election?

Did they win because they were united or was there other reasons?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: In Singapore, the PAP have been primary political party - winning every election since Independence. Their political success has been due to the close relationship of the party with modernisation, industrialisation and economic success.
At the centre of this political and economic success has been on man - Lee Kuan Yew.

In 1959 elections, the PAP came to power using the corruption of its main opposition - the Labour Front, in which the PAP promised to end corruption and promote economic liberalisation. The 1959 elections were also dominated by the British Rendel Constitution, which the PAP denouced. The elections were also dominated by fears of the Malaysian Communist party and the Malaya Emergency.

The PAP has been able to use economic success to consolidate its political power against rivals, in which it has effectively shunned out of any chance of government. In a primarily Chinese community, the PAP has maintained the dominance of the Chinese in Singapore since breaking away from the Malay dominated Federation of Malaysia.

But the political and economic success of the PAP has been at the expense of democracy, with the Internal Security Act, being used to detain opposition and silence the media.