VETERAN MPs from the ruling party said yesterday that the absence of a key indicator - the deployment of new faces to constituencies - suggests that a general election is not imminent.

Although the People's Action Party (PAP) said previously that it has identified and selected a number of potential candidates, the MPs contacted have not seen any, or many, sent out to get grassroots experience and a feel of the ground.

They were responding to speculation about whether a general election may be in the offing, following two announcements in the space of as many days by the Elections Department.

On Tuesday, the department said it would be updating the registry of voters, which lists citizens aged at least 21 who are eligible to vote. This has to be done within three years of the last election, which was in May 2006.

Then on Wednesday, the department said that changes had been made to the boundaries of polling districts.

Both moves added to recent speculation of the possibility of early polls.

While legislators like Bukit Panjang MP Teo Ho Pin noted that the prerogative to call an election rests with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, they added that anyone trying to read the tea leaves must also look at activities on the ground.

'Usually at each election, the Prime Minister retires a third of each cohort. So you would expect to see a lot of new faces at grassroots activities,' said four-term MP Charles Chong. The Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP said that if a senior public servant or military officer was spotted at a Meet-the-People session, 'then you know something is up. But so far, there's been no 'general', or wave of new faces'.

Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Inderjit Singh agreed about the importance of giving potential candidates time on the ground so they can be assessed.

'I wish if they were ready, they would send in the new faces, because I've not seen any so far,' he said, with a laugh.

He himself was sent to work with grassroots groups in 1994 prior to being introduced at the 1997 election.

'It is rare for people to be parachuted in to stand without being put through the paces at the grassroots level,' he said.

Another factor is the readiness of party branches, and the establishment or re-activation of election committees, led by MPs and staffed by PAP branch activists. These ensure that organisational, logistical and other needs are at the ready should an election be called. Joo Chiat MP Chan Soo Sen, Nee Soon Central MP Ong Ah Heng and Mr Singh all said their committees had yet to be re-established.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of the Straits Times.