Singapore election nears despite coronavirus with release of new electoral boundaries

PM Lee has until next April to call for polls, but analysts say an election could be held as early as next month, even as the nation battles the coronavirus pandemic

The new boundaries see an increase in electoral divisions with 93 seats in parliament but there are no changes to the only two wards held by the opposition Workers’ Party

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Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 4:26pm, 13 Mar 2020Updated: 3:17pm, 24 Jun 2020

Singapore on Friday released its new electoral boundaries in a sign that a general election will be called within months, even as it battles the coronavirus outbreak and emphasises the need for more social distancing.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has until April next year to request that the president dissolve Parliament and trigger the start of a general election, but analysts said it was possible a vote could be held as early as next month.

In previous elections, the timing between the release of the report and the dissolution of Parliament has ranged from one day to one month and 26 days. The election must be held within three months from the date Parliament is dissolved.

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States that subsequently rattled world markets, Parliament was dissolved the day after the report was released in October.

In the last election in 2015, the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) – a panel tasked to recommend the number and boundaries of the country’s single-member and multi-seat constituencies – sent its report to the prime minister on July 21, the report was released on July 24, and the general election was held on September 11.

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