CHANGES TO PARLIAMENT: More diverse voices

May 28, 2009

CHANGES TO PARLIAMENT

More diverse voices

Non-PAP members will have at least 18 seats in House

By Clarissa Oon, Senior Political Correspondent
		The time is right for further retooling, said PM Lee, as a changing world means more complex policy choices. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG

THE Government's move to change the political system to provide for more diverse voices will give non-People's Action Party (PAP) members a larger share of Parliament.

Time is right for further retooling: PM THE GRC scheme, to ensure multiracial representation, will be tweaked to reduce the number of giant-sized teams. But it will 'continue to remain the main basis of our electoral system', said Mr Lee. Currently, GRCs can have as many as six members, and there are five of these GRCs. With the planned changes, there will be fewer of them. ... more RELATED LINKS Changes to political system

They will take up at least 18 seats, making up one-fifth of the House, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday.

His announcement of the proposed changes is prompted by society's changing needs, with Singaporeans wanting more debate and greater political participation.

Hence, changes are slated for three areas: the Non-Constituency MPs (NCMPs), Nominated MPs (NMPs) plus the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and single-member ward schemes.

Besides the proposed political changes, Mr Lee also announced the formation of an Economic Strategies Committee to be headed by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. It will come up with new and creative ways to further grow the Singapore economy.

To effect the political changes, the law will be changed to guarantee the opposition parties nine seats in the House. These seats will be filled by either elected MPs or NCMPs, who are the losing opposition candidates with the highest percentage of the votes.

At the same time, the Constitution will be amended to raise the maximum number of NCMPs from six to nine.

In the current Parliament, there is only one NCMP: Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim.

The NMP change will make the 20-year-old scheme permanent via an amendment to the Constitution, allowing Parliament to automatically have up to nine unelected representatives from different sectors of society.

Now, after every election, the Government has to seek Parliament's approval for the scheme.

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