Against NCMP scheme? You can leave the seats to other parties: PAP's Chan Chun Sing to WP

The People's Action Party's (PAP) Chan Chun Sing had some choice words when Progress Singapore Party's Hazel Poa and Workers' Party's (WP) Kenneth Foo expressed their misgivings about the Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) scheme.

Those who do not find the scheme beneficial are welcome to leave the seats to other opposition parties, Chan said during the Mandarin debate Zaobao Live: Face the Voters earlier on Thursday (July 2).

The discussion over the NCMP scheme was precipitated by a comment from a member of the public, who questioned if the NCMP scheme was a "backdoor" to Parliament and if it was "unfair" to elected MPs.

Chan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, maintained that the scheme guarantees that there will be opposition voices in Parliament "no matter the circumstance".

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The scheme gives rise to "better debates", Chan said, adding that the government was not afraid of opposing views as "gold is not afraid of fire".

Taking the floor, Poa raised her reservations with the scheme, saying: "I have some suspicions about the aim of this scheme. I feel it could be something that is not beneficial to the opposition parties.

"The ruling party can say that voters need not vote for the opposition to have their voices heard in Parliament."

"[WP] has always disagreed with this NCMP scheme on principle. But we are forced by circumstance to accept it." Foo added, explaining that his party chose to focus on "the big picture" of working to safeguard Singaporeans' interests.

"Actually I find it very weird. If you feel it is not beneficial to the Workers' Party, you do not need to accept the NCMP seat. You can let other parties have the seat," Chan said in response before the discussion was cut short by the moderator.

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Non-Constituency MP

The NCMP scheme has been a subject of debate since it was proposed in 1984 by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. As part of the scheme, the best-performing losers of each election are offered seats in Parliament.

According to Lee, having NCMPs would enable young Singaporeans to learn about constitutional opposition and hone the debating skills of PAP's own ministers.

But the scheme drew widespread criticism from opposition parties, who accused the PAP of trying to "stage-manage" the opposition.

Veteran opposition politician Chiam See Tong, who helmed the Singapore Democratic Party at the time, stated categorically that his party would never accept an NCMP seat.

When NCMPs were first introduced, they were not allowed to vote on constitutional changes, supply and money Bills, motions of no confidence in the Government and the removal of a President from office.

But following an amendment to the Constitution in 2016, NCMPs now have the same voting rights as elected MPs.

This election, the minimum number of opposition MPs, including NCMPs, will increase from nine to 12.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com