Singapore's opposition parties were thrown into a frenzy when the new GE2025 electoral boundaries was announced on Monday, 11 March 2025. Major boundary changes were made to three GRCs, mainly West Coast, East Coast and Marine Parade. One can say that these GRCs were heavily contested by strong opposition parties in GE2020, hence the urgency to redraw the boundaries to make it safer for the ruling party.
West Coast GRC
During GE2020, PAP's team won with a 51.69% of the votes against PSP's team, which secured 48.31% of the votes. The PAP team was led by Minister Iswaran, who was recently convicted of corruption and served a 12-month jail term, and faced a strong team led by PSP's Chairman Tan Cheng Bock.
The new changes have seen parts of former West Coast being moved to other PAP strongholds like Radin Mas SMC and Tanjong Pagar/Taman Jurong GRCs. Hence, PAP stand a high chance of winning despite Iswaran's corruption case.
PSP's Tan Cheng Bock has recently stated his intention to continue running for the upcoming GE despite being 84 years old, while Leong Mun Wai has been diligently raising bread and butter issues in Parliament. Despite their best efforts, what are their odds of winning after the boundaries have been redrawn?
East Coast GRC
During GE2020, PAP's team barely won, securing 53.39% of the votes against WP's team which had 46.61% of the votes. Although the PAP team was led by DPM Heng Swee Keat, his sudden move and unsteady performance during Nomination Day had likely shaken the people's confidence in him. Meanwhile, WP's team was led by Terence Tan, who has since left the party to focus on his career and family. To make matters worse, Nicole Seah from the WP East Coast team was also found to be having an extramarital affair with fellow WP member Leon Perera, with both of them resigning from the party in 2023.
It is not an easy fight for WP to win East Coast GRC this time, as they lost two prominent members (Terence Tan and Nicole Seah), and the other members are not as well known. There is also a likelihood that PAP's minister Edwin Tong will be moved into the East Coast team, and he is very popular among the young people as he brought in class acts like Taylor Swift.
Marine Parade GRC
GE2020 saw Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong retiring from politics, and the new team was led by Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin. The PAP team managed to get 57.76% of the vote count against WP's team secured 42.24% of the votes. However, in 2023, Tan Chuan Jin was forced to resign when news of his inappropriate relationship with fellow PAP MP Cheng Li Hui was released to the press.
Even so, Marine Parade will now include MacPherson SMC once again, and PAP's Tin Pei Ling is very popular as she received 71.74% of the votes in GE2020. Will Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh alone be the star power WP needs to turn the tide against PAP?
Bukit Batok SMC
There will also be a new Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC, which will take in a sizeable part of Jurong GRC, Bukit Batok SMC and parts of Yuhua and Hong Kah North SMCs. In GE2020, PAP's Murali Pillai received 54.80% of the votes against SDP's Chee Soon Juan, who lost with 45.20% of the votes.
SDP's Chee Soon Juan was so close to winning the SMC, but by them using a "stroke of a pen", his past few years of grassroots and painstaking efforts are now futile. Where can he go now to stand a chance?
While WP still has their strongholds in Aljunied and Sengkang GRCs, it seems like an uphill battle for them to win over more GRCs especially after the electoral boundary changes. They will have to work harder within this short span of time to overcome the challenges that arise from the boundary changes.
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