SINGAPORE: A committee that reviews electoral boundaries ahead of a General Election (GE) has been set up, said the Election Department on Wednesday (Sep 4).
The formation of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) and its subsequent report are key processes that need to be completed before a GE. It is appointed by the Prime Minister, who sets its guidelines or terms of reference.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe committee generally takes two to four months to complete its review on the constituencies and their boundaries, before making its recommendations in a report.
The Prime Minister has to accept the report and send it to Parliament. The changes are then gazetted and the report made public.
In 2015, the EBRC’s report was sent to the Prime Minister on Jul 21. The GE that year was held less than two months later, on Sep 11, after Parliament was dissolved on Aug 25.
In 2011, the Prime Minister received the EBRC report on Feb 21. Parliament was dissolved on Apr 19 and the GE that year was held on May 7.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe EBRC is usually guided by the number and distribution of registered voters, and takes into account population shifts in the various constituencies.
It will also take into consideration specific requests by the Prime Minister, such as the number of Single Member Constituencies and Group Representation Constituencies.
In the case of GE2011, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had wanted smaller GRCs and more SMCs. The review resulted in 15 GRCs and 12 SMCs.
After the ERBC’s review in 2015, there are now 16 GRCs and 13 SMCs. Of the GRCs, two have six Members of Parliament (MPs) and eight have five MPs. The remaining six are four-member GRCs.
For the next election, Mr Lee had said in 2016 that he wants to further reduce the average size of GRCs and create more SMCs.
“In the last two general elections, we created smaller GRCs and more SMCs, and I think the results have been good,” he said in a speech to Parliament in January 2016.
“When I appoint the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee, I will instruct it to reduce the average size of GRCs further, and to create more SMCs.”
The next GE must be held by early April 2021.
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