Non-Constituency Member of Parliament

A Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) is a member of a Singaporean opposition political party who, according to the Constitution and Parliamentary Elections Act, is declared to have been elected a Member of the Parliament of Singapore despite having lost in a general election by virtue of having been one of the best-performing losers. NCMPs enjoy most of the privileges of ordinary Members of Parliament. They are, however, not allowed to vote on several types of bills such as bills to amend the Constitution and motions of no confidence in the Government. An election candidate who has been offered an NCMP seat may decline to take it up.

The NCMP scheme was introduced in 1984, and was a significant modification of the traditional Westminster system of government. Since the ruling People's Action Party had won all parliamentary seats in the four general elections since independence, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew argued that the NCMP scheme would ensure that opposition voices would be heard in Parliament. According to him, this would be beneficial to Singapore as it would give the younger generation of Singaporeans a chance to see what an opposition can or cannot do. When the first constitutional amendment was made to initiate the NCMP scheme, between three and six NCMPs were allowed in Parliament. The Constitution was amended again in 2010 to allow for a maximum of nine NCMPs in Parliament.

Since its inception, the scheme has been widely criticised. It has been considered undemocratic as it allows candidates who do not have the mandate of the people to air their views in Parliament. Furthermore, members of the opposition have criticized the scheme for creating an unequal playing field in a general election by enabling the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) to argue that the electorate need not vote for opposition candidates as there will already be some opposition representation in Parliament. Despite this critique, several opposition politicians have accepted NCMP seats, including Lee Siew-Choh, J. B. Jeyaretnam, Steve Chia and Sylvia Lim. NCMPs have raised notable points in Parliament with regards to various public policy issues such as criminal procedure, education, health and social welfare.

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