Workers’ Party’s Aljunied GRC team offered parliamentary seat

By Ahmad Osman
May 9, 2006
AsiaOne Special Political Correspondent

Singapore’s opposition Workers’ Party (WP) may have two members in Parliament although only its chief, Mr Low Thia Khiang, was successful in the general elections held last Saturday (May 6).

Yesterday (May 8), the Elections Department offered a Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) seat to one of the five members of the WP team which stood in the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

The team, led by law lecturer Sylvia Lim, who is also the party's chairman, received 44 per cent of the valid votes in the constituency. While not enough to dislodge the People's Action Party (PAP) incumbents led by Foreign Minister George Yeo, it made the WP team the best performing loser.

Under the NCMP scheme, introduced in 1984 to ensure the presence of alternative voices in Parliament, the highest scoring opposition losers will be offered NCMP seats if there are fewer than three elected opposition parliamentarians.

An NCMP taking part in parliamentary debates does not represent any constituency.

He or she also cannot vote on major issues such as no-confidence motions, amendments to the Constitution, the Budget and other financial Bills.

Apart from Mr Low, who was re-elected as Hougang MP, veteran opposition Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) leader, Mr Chiam See Tong, 71, was also re-elected on Saturday as the MP of the single electoral ward of Potong Pasir.

Yesterday, the department gave the WP one week to propose one of its Aljunied GRC candidates for the NCMP seat.

Aljunied team leader Sylvia Lim told The Straits Times newspaper the party would decide later this week. Political observers say that if the WP accepts the offer, Ms Lim, a 41-year-old articulate law lecturer, will be a good “sparring” partner for the PAP in Parliament.

During the hustings, she made well-received speeches pressing the PAP government to spell out the criteria on means testing for hospital stays. She also spoke about the plight of Singaporeans hit by the rising cost of living.

Her presence and high profile in the local media drew thousands of Singaporeans to the election rallies held by the WP. Being in Parliament will give her the experience to engage in debates on substantive issues with the PAP.

She can also be the seconder of motions which can be tabled by Mr Low. Without a seconder, a motion tabled by Mr Low cannot be debated in Parliament.

If the WP rejects the department’s offer, the SDA’s Mr Steve Chia, who became an NCMP after the last general election in 2001, will have another chance to stay in Parliament.

But he has said that he does not want that chance because he is quitting politics after securing only 39.6 per cent of the votes in the single-member Chua Chu Kang electoral ward last Saturday.

Meanwhile, Singapore police is continuing its investigation of a complaint by the Elections Department against Ms Lim’s Aljunied GRC team-mate, Mr James Gomez.

The department claimed he committed criminal intimidation and also gave false information. Its complaint was filed after an incident involving a form for a minority candidate contesting in a GRC that Mr Gomez said he had submitted although closed circuit television footage released by the department to the media showed that he had walked off with the form in his briefcase.

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   in the Parliamentary Elections Act