SINGAPORE, March 26 — Leader of the Opposition in Singapore Pritam Singh has urged Singaporeans to “step up” in shaping a “more balanced political system”, voicing concerns over the opacity of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) following its latest report.

In a Facebook post yesterday, the Workers’ Party (WP) chief pointed to “significant” public debate — particularly among younger Singaporeans — questioning the fairness of boundary changes.

He noted that the latest EBRC report marked “one of the most radical redrawing of boundaries” in recent memory, with five new Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and six new Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) created.

For the first time since the 2011 General Election, changes were also made to Aljunied GRC, which Singh represents via the Eunos ward.

Singh took issue with the lack of transparency in how electoral divisions are reshaped, recalling a past parliamentary response from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP): “‘Gerrymandering?’ It happens in Western democracies too! Where do you think the word came from?”

He suggested that boundary adjustments often affect constituencies with closely contested results, pointing to past remarks by then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

During the 2016 Bukit Batok by-election, Lee had commented that PAP candidate Murali Pillai — who was part of the losing 2015 Aljunied GRC team — could have won if his division had been an SMC instead.

Singh also questioned the movement of 15 precincts from Marine Parade GRC to East Coast GRC, saying it was “not out of place” for Singaporeans to wonder how residents there voted in the last election. He called on the government to release such data for greater transparency.

PAP has long maintained that boundary changes are based on population shifts. In a recent CNA938 interview, Senior Minister of State Janil Puthucheary reiterated this stance, saying that the EBRC ensures fair representation as demographics evolve.

However, Singh argued that fairness should not be “an afterthought” and warned that institutions like the EBRC risk being “unwittingly divisive” if public confidence in the process is undermined.

Referencing the Forward Singapore report — released last November as part of a national strategy to refresh Singapore’s social compact — he highlighted its emphasis on fairness as a shared value.

“But when question marks about fairness abound right from square one, on an issue as fundamental as how we organise ourselves politically, values like fairness can lose their meaning,” he said.

Calling for greater trust and transparency in governance, Singh urged Singaporeans to “press on” in strengthening democracy. “It can be done,” he said.