Of the 16 Group Representation Constituencies recommended by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), two did not exist in the 2011 General Election, while Moulmein-Kallang GRC will be dropped in the upcoming GE.
According to the report released on Friday (Jul 24), the new GRCs are Marsiling-Yew Tee, a four-member GRC mainly carved out of what used to be Sembawang and Chua Chu Kang GRCs, and Jalan Besar, a GRC which has re-emerged after being dissolved ahead of the 2011 polls.
Moulmein-Kallang GRC – which currently includes two Cabinet Ministers, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim and Mr Lui Tuck Yew, as well as Ms Denise Phua and Mr Edwin Tong – has been dissolved, with the area now forming parts of Holland-Bukit Timah, Bishan-Toa Payoh, Tanjong Pagar and Jalan Besar GRCs.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had previous requested that the “average size of the GRCs be reduced to below five”. Accordingly, there are now 8 five-member GRCs from 11 previously, with Chua Chu Kang, East Coast and West Coast all now four-member GRCs. The number of four-member GRCs increased this year to 6 from 2 in 2011.
Ang Mo Kio and Pasir Ris-Punggol remain the only 2 six-member GRCs. Both have more voters each than in 2011, with Ang Mo Kio still the largest constituency by population with 187,652 voters, up from 178,933 before.
The total number of voters has increased from 2,349,091 in 2011 to 2,460,977 currently.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
