Despite the prospects of a major redrawing of electoral boundaries and the short reaction time should the General Election (GE) be called as early as September, opposition parties said yesterday (July 13) they were confident their preparations would not be derailed.
Nevertheless, some of them cried foul that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had kept the formation of the electoral boundaries review committee under wraps for the last two months, and called on him to ensure that there is sufficient time lag between the release of the committee’s report and the dissolution of Parliament.
On its website, the Singapore Democratic Party called on Mr Lee to “ensure that at least two months are given from the time of the announcement of the new boundaries to the dissolution of Parliament”.
“It is shocking that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong chose not to announce the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee when he appointed it two months ago,” it said.
Mr Goh Meng Seng, founder of newly registered People’s Power Party, added: “It’s not fair to us … After the report is out, at least give about two to three months, then we can have a good showing.”
The Republic’s first two Prime Ministers, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok Tong, had opted not to announce the formation of the committee. Apart from the latest instance, PM Lee, who took office in 2004, had also made public the setting up of the committee in the last two GEs in 2006 and 2011.
Responding to TODAY’s queries after yesterday’s Parliament session, Workers’ Party (WP) Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Yee Jenn Jong said his party believes the process of setting up the committee should be “automatic and transparent”.
“It will make (for) a fairer democratic system if the review of electoral boundaries is based on a known timeline, independent of when elections will be held,” he said.
WP also reiterated its call for a period of at least six to 12 months between any changes to the electoral boundaries and Nomination Day.
National Solidarity Party president Sebastian Teo said that should the GE be held in September, as some analysts had predicted, opposition parties would be at a disadvantage.
“We will have a shorter time to plan which areas to focus on and to study the formations of the Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs),” said Mr Teo, adding that his party had begun outreach efforts since the end of last year.
Singaporeans First chairman Ang Yong Guan noted that any drastic changes to the electoral boundaries could also hurt the People’s Action Party.
“All the goodwill and effort made by the existing MP will also be lost,” he said, adding that “we are always mindful that the GRCs may change, it’s never cast in stone”.
Similarly, Democratic Progressive Party secretary-general Benjamin Pwee said his party would take the changes in its stride, and redeploy its candidates accordingly.
“As long as the number of GRCs do not change significantly, we are not likely to see drastic changes to the boundaries,” he said.
Singapore Democratic Alliance chairman Desmond Lim said his party members would continue working the ground at Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. If the constituency’s size is reduced, the party would adjust accordingly, he said.
Reform Party chairman Andy Zhu noted that any redrawing of the boundaries would not severely jeopardise his party’s plan.
On the outcome of the committee’s report, the party is adopting a wait-and-see attitude, he said.
The opposition parties reiterated their call to abolish the GRC system, which has been in place since the 1988 GE. Mr Pwee said: “What we would like to see, is fewer GRCs, and more SMCs, where electoral candidates get voted into Parliament on the basis of their own individual credibility.”
Dr Ang said the GRC system allows weaker candidates to ride on the coattails of stronger team members.
A one-to-one contest is more ideal, as voters can better assess the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, he said.
Source: www.todayonline.com
