>>The concept of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) introduced. They will be bigger than the existing consituencies, about three times the size.
>>Each GRC to have three MPs, at least one of whom must be from a minority group. In the thre-fifths of the GRCs, the minority MP must be a Malay and, in others, Indian or other minority representatives.
>>At least one quarter but no more than half of all MPs to come from GRCs.
Why? >>To ensure that Parliament remains multi-racial and will always have some non-Chinese MPs.
>>To fit in with the proposal to set up town councils, which will give residents more authority and more responsibility to manage their own housing estates. MP in a GRC can form a town council.
1991 Changes
>>Each GRC allowed to have up to four MPs, from the original team of three.
>>Maximum number of MPs fro GRCs increased from half to three-qaurters of the total number of elected MPs
Why? >>To give the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee more flexible when it reviews electoral boundaries. It would minimise major changes to the boundaries to GRCs which have grown too big for the number of MPs serving them.
1996 Changes
>>Maximium number of MPs in each GRCs increased to six. >>No limit imposed on the number of GRCs. Instead, minimum number of single seat ward reduced, from one quarter of all seats in the Parliament to eight.
Why? >>To pave way for the creation of a community development councils (CDCs), which have the powers to dispense government funds to the needy consituents. They give voters a bigger stake in the result of their choice, because MPs will manage more matters. Explaining these changes in the Parliament, then-prime minister Goh Chok Tong said: "For CDCs to be effective, they need to have the responsibility for a critical mass of residents." "Increasing the maximum number of MPs in a GRC from four to six will give more flexibility to the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee to configure a GRC which is the right size for this purpose", he added.
charlize
At the rate this is going, soon there will be one constituency in Singapore.
AF2005
it is already one. but its seems to be losing its grip with the recent opposition manifesto.
abao
Originally posted by charlize:
At the rate this is going, soon there will be one constituency in Singapore.