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Singapore's Electoral Boundaries Review Committee announces new electoral boundaries

Xinhua, July 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore's Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) on Friday released the report of new electoral boundaries, which is considered as the clearest sign that the next general election may come in the near future.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong received the report of EBRC on Tuesday. The Committee recommended the adoption of 29 electoral divisions, comprising 13 Single Member Constituencies ( SMCs) and 16 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), with a total of 89 members of parliament (MPs) to be returned, two more than the current batch of 87.

The number of SMCs increased from 12 in the last election to 13, and that of GRCs rose from 15 previously to 16.

Sizes of GRCs have also been changed. The five-member GRCs have been shrunk to eight from 11 in previous election, while the four- member GRCs increased to six from two previously. The number of six-member GRCs remains the same at two.

Changes to the GRC sizes have been widely expected, after Prime Minister Lee told Parliament on July 13 that he had asked the EBRC "to reduce the average size of the GRCs to below five," although there was some speculation that the six-member GRCs would have been scrapped altogether following his comments.

GRCs are unique to the Singapore political landscape -- in each GRC at least one candidate must come from a minority race.

Singapore government has accepted the recommendations of EBRC and will implement them at the next general election. The release of the report brings the nation a step closer to the next general election.

With the report made public, Singapore's President Tony Tan Keng Yam can dissolve the current Parliament anytime, after which the general election must be held within three months. Endi