By S Ramesh | Posted: 05
March 2011 1536 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's major opposition parties are
meeting for the second time this week ahead of the coming General
Election which must take place before February next year.
Election fever has heightened since the recent release of the
Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) Report, which carved
out 12 Single-Member Constituencies (SMC) and 15 Group
Representation Constituencies (GRCs).
This brings the total number of constituencies to 87 from the
current 84.
A leader of one of the opposition parties told Channel NewsAsia the
discussions this time is a bit more difficult to resolve compared
to the 2006 General Election.
The leader said he hopes guidelines can be drawn up.
He is proposing if two opposition parties are eyeing a particular
GRC or SMC, preference be given to the party which contested in
that ward in the last General Election to avoid a three-cornered
fight.
The opposition parties are hoping to contest all 12 SMCs while
their position on GRCs is expected to become clearer after
Saturday's meeting.
A case that the leader highlighted would be Punggol East which has
now been carved out of the Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC.
Both the Workers' Party and the Singapore Democratic Alliance,
which contested Pasir Ris Punggol in the last General Election, are
staking a claim to that ward.
Channel NewsAsia understands the Workers' Party is keen to field a
candidate in Punggol East as it is near the Aljunied GRC which it
has indicated it plans to contest.
-CNA
