SINGAPORE: Having Members of Parliament (MPs) serve a “broadly similar” number of electors as the last General Election will enable those elected to “continue to serve and represent their residents effectively”, said Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing on Friday (Feb 28).

Mr Chan was addressing a question from Non-Constituency MP Hazel Poa on the terms of reference provided to the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), which was convened by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in January.

The EBRC should seek to keep the average size of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), the proportion of MPs elected from Single Member Constituencies (SMCs), and the average ratio of electors to elected MPs “all at about the same as that in the last General Election”, the Elections Department (ELD) had said.

In 2020, the average number of MPs per GRC was 4.65, while SMCs contributed 15 per cent of the total number of MPs.

Noting that it is “important” to understand the reasons behind these terms of reference provided by the prime minister, Ms Poa asked why the committee was not instructed "to reduce the average size of GRCs further or explicitly increase the number of SMCs, unlike the past three general elections".

Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the budget of the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Chan said there is “an asymptotical limit to asking EBRC to keep reducing the average size of GRCs”, with that limit being one where all electoral divisions are SMCs.

“The current terms of reference provide some stability in our electoral landscape by having a balance in the proportion of GRCs and SMCs,” said Mr Chan, who is also education minister.

“Having MPs serving a broadly similar number of electors on average as the last election will enable MPs in the coming parliament to continue to serve and represent their residents effectively.”

Ms Poa, who is the secretary-general of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), also asked if the prime minister saw the need to direct the EBRC to "provide greater transparency" on the reasons for boundary changes. She added that this would be "conducive to building public trust".

In response, Mr Chan said this was discussed extensively during a debate on the parliamentary motion tabled by PSP’s NCMPs in August last year.

“We do not intend to repeat the debate today,” the minister said. 

“Suffice to say that we should avoid imposing requirements or instructions on the EBRC that are too prescriptive, but to give EBRC, which comprises senior civil servants with the relevant professional knowledge and expertise, the space to do their work independently and objectively without fear or favour.”

The motion raised by PSP had called for changes to how electoral boundaries are drawn so as to “increase the transparency and fairness of the electoral boundary review process for all political parties”.

One of these changes includes having a High Court judge chair the review committees.

These suggestions were roundly rejected by Mr Chan, who spoke during the debate in August last year and reiterated that the EBRC works in the interest of voters, not political parties.

The EBRC is convened by the prime minister ahead of every contest to review and make changes to Singapore’s electoral map, taking into account population shifts and housing developments to adjust the number of voters across electoral divisions.

Its formation marks a significant step in the lead-up to the next General Election, which must be held by November.