'Deeply disappointed': Opposition parties WP, PSP, SDP and NSP respond following boundary changes

Following the latest report by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), several opposition parties, including the Workers' Party (WP) and the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), have come out to express concerns over some of the boundary changes. 

In a statement after the report was released on Tuesday (March 11), the WP noted "significant changes" to areas where they have been "working consistently for the last few years". The party didn't name those areas. 

The Committee's proposed changes include 18 group representation constituencies (GRCs) and 15 single-member constituencies (SMCs), an increase from the current 17 GRCs and 14 SMCs.

The proposed revisions were a result of "population shifts and housing developments", said EBRC.

WP said that the confirmation of the electoral boundaries was a critical part of election preparations, and that they will share more information in due course regarding the likely constituencies they will contest.

The party previously claimed Aljunied GRC, Sengkang GRC and Hougang SMC at the 2020 General Election, securing a total of 10 seats in Parliament.

Sengkang GRC and Hougang SMC are among nine constituencies that will not have their boundaries redrawn.

However, three polling districts in Tampines West will be moved from Aljunied GRC to the People's Action Party-held Tampines GRC in the upcoming general election. 

Disappointed with removal of SMCs: SDP

PSP, on the other hand, said it was "heartened" that the EBRC report "somewhat disclosed more of the reasoning behind its decisions".

"However, PSP’s view is that much of the EBRC’s decision-making remains unexplained, and the EBRC could have accounted for population shifts without making drastic changes to existing major electoral boundaries," said the party's chief Hazel Poa in a statement posted to Facebook on March 11.

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) said in a statement to AsiaOne that it was disappointed with the removal of Yuhua and Bukit Batok SMCs in the new EBRC report.

Bukit Batok SMC and Yuhua SMC will be absorbed into the new Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC. 

The party's secretary-general Chee Soon Juan previously contested in Bukit Batok SMC in the 2020 General Election but lost to PAP MP Murali Pillai. The former had garnered 45.2 per cent of votes, while Pillai received 54.8 per cent.

Dr Chee said last month that he intended to contest for Bukit Batok SMC again.

"It seems coincidental that this happened so soon after the highly successful fundraisers for the SDP campaign in Bukit Batok," said the party. 

The party also said the whole process of redrawing electoral boundaries "lacks transparency, done without open discussion among stakeholders".

Dr Chee also responded to the report in a video posted on March 12, saying that he needs to "rethink his strategy given the changed circumstances" and is "not going anywhere".

Spencer Ng, secretary-general of the National Solidarity Party (NSP), also voiced his criticisms of the redrawing of the electoral boundaries in a Facebook post on March 11, saying that NSP is "deeply disappointed and perplexed" by the "grossly unfair and unlevelled political grounds for opposition parties". 

The party said they intend to contest in seven constituencies including Tampines GRC, Sembawang GRC and Sembawang West SMC.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com