SINGAPORE -- The Singapore government announced on Wednesday the formation of a committee tasked with drawing up boundaries to set electoral wards, fueling speculation that the city-state is gearing up for a snap poll that will dissolve the current government set to rule until early 2021.
If early elections take place, they will be held under a cloud of economic uncertainty. The nation recently downgraded its growth forecast to between 0% and 1% for 2019, down from 1.5% to 2.5% earlier in the year.
The ruling party led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- son of the late Lee Kuan Yew, who is widely recognized as Singapore's founding father -- has traditionally built its support on promises of delivering growth. Observers feel that the government wants to hold the snap poll before the economy deteriorates further, which could jeopardize its grip on power.
The Prime Minister's Office released a statement on Wednesday that said: "The [Electoral Boundaries Review] committee has been directed to review the boundaries of the current electoral divisions and to recommend the number and boundaries of group representation constituencies and single member constituencies."
The committee has no predetermined deadline to complete its review and issue a report. In 2015, before the city-state's previous polls were held, Lee assured MPs that there would be enough time for all to read the report before elections were called.
"I don't think it is possible to say that we promise a certain minimum period such as six months because it depends very much on the exigencies of the situation and on when elections become necessary," he said then.
In the past, the committee took between two and four months to complete its review and issue its report. The elections in 2015 and 2011 were held under three months after the committee's report was issued.
Opposition parties have criticized the ruling People's Action Party, which has an unbroken hold on power in modern Singapore, of gerrymandering. PAP has consistently rejected such claims.
The GRC system also came under fire from opposition parties that claimed it hindered other groups from fielding the required candidates needed to form a team to contest in an election. Under the GRC system, at least one member in a team of MPs in each constituency must be from an ethnic minority group.
Political parties are expected to start introducing potential candidates to the public in anticipation of the next poll. Political watchers are keenly observing the moves of the city-state's newest party, the Progress Singapore Party, which introduced a number of its members to the public recently.
The party is backed by the prime minister's estranged brother, Lee Hsien Yang, and led by a former PAP MP and candidate in the 2011 presidential elections, Tan Cheng Bock.