Singapore General Election Coming Soon?

Just a thought that came in my head. Is the General Election coming soon? Here’s the list of events that contributes to my theory:

1. Ho Ching Resigns
2. Govt Announce Voter Rolls to be updated
3. Polling Districts changed
4. Last GE was 3 years ago in 2006

Ho Ching Steps down from Temasek

One of the world’s most powerful lady of our time, steps down from Temasek Holdings. Possibly the biggest news of the year so far when announced. She’ll officially resign in October later this year.

Many speculations have been spreading about, that MM Lee has other plans for his beloved daughter-in-law. Some says that she’ll join the PAP and enter the local political scene so has to help compete during the next Singapore General Elections. In addition since she’s been overseeing Temasek Holdings finances, she may well be in the position as a candidate for our next Finance Minister.

Of course, many others have said that she’s left Temasek because of the losses incurred in Temasek’s failed investment. That may be the reason, as well as many others. (see previous post on Ho Ching)

Polling districts changed

According to reports, the reason of the change is due ensure each polling district has an optimal number of voters. Looking as past experiences, the time-lag between the release of changes to polling districts and the release of the Electoral Boundaries Report has ranged from 19 days for the 2001 election, to six months for the January 1997 election.

Voter Roll To Be Updated

The registers of electors are due for an update and the Prime Minister has directed the revision be done by April 30. Between the 2001 and 2006 elections, the roll was updated twice – first in 2004 and then in January of 2006, less than six months before the May polls.

With the current economic situation, the GE will probably not happen within 6months. However if the economy starts to pick up a little by middle of the year, and keeping in mind that the IRs are also coming into completion, we may see the government announcing to have the GE early 2010, or even in the 4th quarter of this year.

Bear in mind the recent increase in the existing GST Offset Package, as well as the Job Credit schemes that the government have been implementing.

More “sweets” given out = GE is coming?

This entry was posted on Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 12:48 am and is filed under News, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.