Bill to be tabled to allow for ‘safe’ GE if held during Covid-19 outbreak: Elections Dept
The next General Election must be held by April 14, 2021.
SINGAPORE — A Bill will be tabled next week to allow the Elections Department Singapore (ELD) to put in place temporary arrangements to ensure a “safe” General Election (GE) if it is held during the Covid-19 pandemic, the department said on Friday (April 3).
“The health and safety of voters, candidates and election officials is paramount to us,” ELD said in response to media queries.
“In view of the rapidly evolving Covid-19 situation, ELD must make contingency plans to put in place precautionary measures to ensure a safe election, should the next GE takes place amid the Covid-19 situation.”
The Parliamentary Elections (Covid-19 Special Arrangements) Bill, which is expected to be introduced next Tuesday, contains the “necessary legislative provisions” to allow ELD to implement temporary arrangements to ensure the safety of voters, candidates and election officials during parliamentary elections.
The next GE must be held by April 14 next year. The release on March 13 of a report by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee triggered talk that the GE could be held in the coming months.
Several opposition parties have criticised the prospect of the polls being conducted during this health crisis.
Last week, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that he “would not rule any possibility out” regarding the timing of the polls.
He said that it would be “a very difficult decision because we are going into a very big storm and you want to have the strongest team and mandate, and the longest runway so that Singapore can have the best leadership to see it through this storm”.
He added: “I think once all the requirements are cleared, and that includes the electoral boundaries which have been reported, the electoral rolls have to be certified and republished. Once that is done, that means all possibilities are there. I will have to judge the situation.”
