Analysts and political observers confessed to being stunned by the wide margin of victory that the Workers' Party (WP) scored in the Punggol East by-election yesterday, when it pulled ahead by 11 percentage points. SMU Assistant Professor of Law Eugene Tan said that this effect - referring to voters turning to the opposition knowing that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) is already in power - has "accentuated over the years" as Singaporeans increasingly yearn for an alternative to the one-party dominant rule of the past decades. "People want checks and balances and while WP is not ready to form a government, it is the closest we've had in a long while," he said.