Workers’ Party chairman Sylvia Lim accepts NCMP offer

Move will boost Lim's profile; potential to bolster party's chances in next general election

By Ahmad Osman
May 10, 2006
AsiaOne Special Political Correspondent

WORKERS' Party chairman Sylvia Lim will become Singapore's new Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) when Parliament reconvenes. She became eligible for an NCMP seat following her team's perrformance in the general elections held last Saturday (May 6).

On Tuesday (May 9), she accepted the offer of a seat by the election’s Returning Officer, Mr Tan Boon Huat.

Ms Lim, a 41-year-old law lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic, led the team of five WP candidates in the battle for the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Its score of 44 per cent of the votes was not enough to unseat the People's Action Party team but sufficient to put it at the top of the list of Opposition contestants in the polls.

The "trigger" for an offer of an NCMP seat is if fewer than three opposition MPs are elected.

Last Saturday, WP chief Mr Low Thia Khiang, was re-elected as the MP for the single-member electoral ward of Hougang while Potong Pasir voters re-elected veteran Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) leader, Mr Chiam See Tong, as their MP.

On Monday, Mr Tan offered the NCMP post to one of the five candidates in the WP’s Aljunied GRC team.

Political observers say that Ms Lim’s acceptance will give her the exposure required for the party to attract more credible candidates for the next polls. The NCMP scheme was introduced in 1984 to ensure the presence of alternative voices in Parliament.

As NCMP debating with PAP MPs in Parliament, Ms Lim does not represent any constituency.

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

But she can speak on behalf of the 58,000 WP voters in Aljunied GRC and other Singaporeans unhappy about the rising cost of living and healthcare and the widening income gap.

She can also second motions raised by Mr Low. He needs a seconder to get his motions debated in Parliament.

Mr Low told the media on Tuesday that the WP accepted the NCMP post for two reasons. Many voters, he said, wanted the party to have a second voice in Parliament.

There is also wide public perception that Ms Lim will be a “suitable and capable” parliamentarian, he said.

Mr Low is personally against the NCMP concept because he believes the person holding this post does not represent any constituency.

He believes Singaporeans must elect more than two opposition MPs if they want to strengthen parliamentary democracy in Singapore. But he did not stand in the way of popular public demand for Ms Lim to go into Parliament.

At a meeting of the WP’s policy-making central executive committee on Tuesday night, he did not cast a vote during the debate on the NCMP offer.

It was accepted by eight of the 12 committee members who were present. Ms Lim and another committee member also abstained. One member rejected the offer.

Ms Lim said that the final decision was based on the interests of the voters and the party, which will step up the drive to recruit, train and field more young and well-educated candidates in the next general election.

Many of these young men and women defeated in the polls last Saturday will be back working the ground in the constituencies they contested.

Ms Lim confirmed that the WP will continue to reach out to residents in Aljunied GRC.

Mr Chia Ti Lik, the leader of the WP’s team in East Coast GRC who had 36.1 per cent of the votes, said that he and his team-mates will strive to expand the number of their supporters in the constituency.

He said: “We want to meet other opposition parties and talk about what worked and what didn’t.”