Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (
NCMPs) are members of the opposition parties who were appointed as members of the Parliament of Singapore even though they had lost in the parliamentary election.
The NCMP scheme was introduced in 1984 to provide a voice for the opposition in parliament. At that time, the Singapore legislative was dominated by the
People's Action PartyThe People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959...
(PAP) and without members of the opposition parties during the period from 1968 to 1981.
Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (
NCMPs) are members of the opposition parties who were appointed as members of the Parliament of Singapore even though they had lost in the parliamentary election.
The NCMP scheme was introduced in 1984 to provide a voice for the opposition in parliament. At that time, the Singapore legislative was dominated by the
People's Action PartyThe People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959...
(PAP) and without members of the opposition parties during the period from 1968 to 1981. In 1981, an opposition candidate J. B. Jeyaretnam won a seat in the
Anson-People:Surname* Cap Anson , American baseball player* Eric Anson, New Zealand's first specialist anaesthetist* George Anson, 1st Baron Anson , British admiral, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe...
by-election and broke the PAP dominance in the legislature. However, Jeyaratnam could not initiate a meaningful debate, as he could not find another MP to second his motion. The PAP recognised the need for an "intelligent" opposition to provide more alternative voices in the parliament. Proportional Representation was at one time considered but was rejected because of worries that it could induce radicals to enter parliament.
In May 1984, the then deputy Prime Minister
Goh Chok TongGoh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore...
proposed an amendment in the Constitution to introduce the NCMP scheme. Goh believed that the presence of opposition MPs in parliament would check the PAP and voice discontent about government polices. His perception was that this would provide greater legitimacy to the legislature and greater public confidence in the Singaporean
political systemA political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems. It is different from them, and can be generally defined on a spectrum from left, e.g. communism, to the right, e.g. fascism...
. Since then, the standard arrangement has been that NCMP seats go to the top opposition losers who obtained more than 15% of the votes in their respective constituencies, although as evidenced below this is not always accepted. Opposition parties in Singapore and critics of the system often state that the system effectively permanently resigns non-PAP MPs to a 'second class' status and is a publicity stunt to lend legitimacy to the
dominant partyA dominant-party system, or one party dominant system, is a party system where only one political party can realistically become the government, by itself or in a coalition government...
status of the PAP within the context of democracy in the country.
Later, in the 1984 general elections, the PAP saw a drop of 13.4% in its votes and lost two seats. One NCMP seat was offered but rejected by members of the opposition parties. In the 1988 election,
Singapore Democratic PartyThe Singapore Democratic Party is a liberal party in Singapore. The SDP was constituted in 1980 and it is the first opposition party in Singapore to have a youth wing, Young Democrats, and to deploy podcast as a media...
's
Chiam See TongChiam See Tong is a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He is the country's longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament . Since 1984, he has represented the constituency of Potong Pasir in Singapore's Parliament, where he is currently one of only two elected opposition MPs...
was the only opposition MP elected, and two
Workers' PartyThe Workers' Party of Singapore is one of the largest opposition parties in Singapore, with 1 of the 84 elected seats in the current session of Parliament of Singapore. Low Thia Khiang, its Secretary-General holds the single seat for the electoral division of Hougang...
members took the NCMP seats. In 1991, no NCMP seats were offered as four opposition MPs were elected to Parliament. In 1997, an NCMP seat was offered to and occupied by J. B. Jeyaretnam. In the 2001 election, one sole NCMP seat was occupied by Chia Kiah Hong Steve of the National Solidarity Party.
In the 2006 election, Sylvia Lim, the Chairman of the
Workers' PartyThe Workers' Party of Singapore is one of the largest opposition parties in Singapore, with 1 of the 84 elected seats in the current session of Parliament of Singapore. Low Thia Khiang, its Secretary-General holds the single seat for the electoral division of Hougang...
garnered 43.9% of the vote in Aljunied GRC. As the best-performing opposition loser in the election, the
Elections DepartmentThe Elections Department is a department of the government of Singapore that oversees the procedure for elections in Singapore, including parliamentary elections and presidential elections. It sees that elections are fairly carried out and has a supervisory role to safeguard against electoral fraud...
announced that one of the 5 members of Sylvia Lim's team would become the NCMP. After meeting with the
Central Executive CommitteeThe term Central Executive Committee refers to governing bodies with executive power of various parties, governments, or private organizations.-See also:*Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets*Kuomintang*Japan Socialist Party...
of the Workers' Party, Sylvia Lim was nominated as the next NCMP in parliament.
Similar to
Nominated Members of ParliamentA Nominated Member of Parliament is an unelected Member of Parliament who does not represent any political party or any electoral district in the Parliament of Singapore. There are currently nine NMPs in Singapore's Parliament. NMPs were first introduced in the early-1990s, with a view to bringing...
, NCMPs can vote on all issues except the following:
- amendment of the constitution,
- public funds,
- vote of no confidence in the government,
- removing the president from office.
List of NCMPs
- Dr. Lee Siew Choh
Dr. Lee Siew Choh was a Singapore politician. Lee was born in Kuala Lumpur and was educated at Victoria Institution. He was trained as a medical doctor, but spent most of his life as a political leader. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Singapore following the 1959 election. In 1960 he...
(1988-1991)
- J.B. Jeyaretnam (1997-2001)
- Chia Kiah Hong Steve (2001-2006)
- Sylvia Lim (2006- )