Electoral boundaries committee formed in May, report not yet ready: PM Lee

THE Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) was formed two months ago in May and is now preparing its report, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament on Monday.

Ahead of every general election (GE), the committee is appointed to review and draw up constituency boundaries. The committee is chaired by the secretary to the Prime Minister.

Mr Lee told the House that he had asked the committee to consider the population shifts and housing developments since the last boundary delineation exercise.

He also asked them to have smaller group representation constituencies (GRCs) so as to reduce their average size to below five people, and to have at least 12 single member constituencies (SMCs). Currently, there are 15 GRCs and 12 SMCs.

"(The EBRC) is now in the midst of its deliberations and will make its recommendations to me when ready," said Mr Lee.

He was speaking in response to questions by two MPs - Arthur Fong of the People's Action Party and non-constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong of the Workers' Party - on whether the committee had been formed.

In the build-up to the last two polls, in May 2006 and May 2011, the committee took about four months after its formation to issue its report.

While there is no fixed time frame for an election to be called after the report is submitted to the prime minister, it has taken anywhere from one day to eight weeks in the past. The next GE must be held by January 2017 at the latest.