12 NCMPs Guaranteed Even After WP Loses Aljunied And Hougang! Samsters Happy Now?

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he intends to raise the number of Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seats so that there will be at least 12 opposition faces in Parliament - up from the current nine - from the next General Election.

Mr Lee also said he intends to amend the Constitution during this term to give NCMPs the same voting rights as other MPs, so that they will be "equal in powers, though not in responsibility and scope, to constituency MPs", he said in Parliament on Wednesday (Jan 27).

This means NCMPs will also be entitled to vote on supply bills, money bills, constitutional amendments, motions of no confidence in the Government and motions to remove the President from office - powers that they currently do not have.

The Nominated MP scheme will continue, he added, ensuring at least 21 MPs that are not in the ruling part in the Chambers.

As of 2010, the Constitution provides for nine NCMPs in Parliament, less the number of opposition MPs elected. For example, three NCMP seats were offered to opposition members in the current Parliament, as there are six elected opposition members.

The NCMP scheme was introduced in 1984, with the intention of ensuring a minimum number of opposition members in Parliament. At the time, between three and six NCMPs, less the number of elected opposition MPs, were allowed.

To qualify as an NCMP, opposition candidates need to belong to a political party and obtain at least 15 per cent of the votes cast. The NCMP seats will be allocated to the "best losers", or the opposition candidate with the highest percentage of votes.

The move comes after President Tony Tan Keng Yam, in his opening address to Parliament on Jan 15, called for the Government to study whether and how to improve Singapore's political system.

"Our political system has delivered stability and progress for Singapore. But this system must be refreshed from time to time, as our circumstances change," Dr Tan said. "The Government will study this matter carefully, to see whether and how we should improve our political system so that we can be assured of clean, effective, and accountable government over the long term."

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/more-ncmps-in-parliament/2462160.html?cid=FBSG

I am so happy that the stage is now set for WP to lose both Aljunied and Hougang in GE 2020.

Lazy and daft sinkies will surely bite the bait thrown by the chief natural aristocrat. The real hard screwing of sinkies will begin in 2020, screwing that had never ever been witnessed before. Be afraid, be very afraid.

NCMP got lan yong? I dare you change the constitution to allow anyone with a minimum of 5% of vote to represent their constituents.

like advanced first world parliaments!

harimau said:

NCMP got lan yong? I dare you change the constitution to allow anyone with a minimum of 5% of vote to represent their constituents.

like advanced first world parliaments!

Click to expand...

We are an advanced first world parliament. Look at our safe streets, high employment rates, high purchasing power, developed infrastructure, low corruption rate. You don't achieve all these with a 3rd world parliament.

There is still 5 good years to the next GE and WP has not lose anything yet.

One more thing need to amend is to up NCMP salary to be the same as MP then no one will turn down the NCMP offer.

Great news! No point having opposition in zsingapore. Don't waste my time going voting.

An excellent idea. If only our company can also take in interns on five year contracts. It is good for them as it helps them learn the ropes and prove to us they can do the job.

JohnTan said:

We are an advanced first world parliament. Look at our safe streets, high employment rates, high purchasing power, developed infrastructure, low corruption rate. You don't achieve all these with a 3rd world parliament.

Click to expand...

you don't need a 1st or 2nd world parliament to do that.
a dictatorship will do as well.

In 1967 Colonel Gaddafi inherited one of the poorest nations in Africa; however, by the time he was assassinated,
Gaddafi had turned Libya into Africa’s wealthiest nation. Libya had the highest GDP per capita and life expectancy
on the continent. Less people lived below the poverty line than in the Netherlands.

All single seats plus minority NCMP scheme a great replacement for flawed GRC system of elections

The GRC system was created to promote PAP hegemony and despotism; if anybody still insists that GRC system can actually be justified by its original premise of actually "entrenches the presence of minority MPs in Parliament": then one is a fool since the following 2 examples prove this to be UNTRUE:

Firstly, the law (Parliamentary Elections Act (Ch218), S24(2A)) obviously neglects ANY interest minority existence the moment GRC election results are announced as the statute does states: "In respect of any group representation constituency, no writ shall be issued under subsection (1) for an election to fill any vacancy unless all the Members for that constituency have vacated their seats in Parliament.": there is no need to replace a seat vacated by a minority candidate for any reason: suffice to say that just one candidate who need not be a minority need remain. A bait and switch trick by the PAP?

Secondly, despite needlessly emphasizing minority race differences (through 16 GRCs occupying 76 seats in a 89 seat parliament (=85.4% of all seats post GE2015)), the 16 designated GRCs are only able to guarantee a meagre presence of 16/89= 18.0% minority representation in parliament: far less than the population census result (2014) showing 25.7% of the Singapore as belonging to minority ethnic group. The significant shortfall of 25.7%-18.0%= 7.7% (or equal to 7.7%*89=6.87=~ deficit of 7 minority MPs) remains glaring proof of how deficient/ inadequate the GRC system is at defending minority ethnic interest in parliament.

These 2 examples are sufficient proof that GRC for the purpose of 'entrenching ethnic minority representation in parliament' is just political sleight of hand, a hoax or mere lip service.

More reasons to show that GRC system of elections promotes hegemony and autocracy (despotic rule) can be found at 'How the GRC system of elections is a farce and promotes despotism and autocracy in Singapore' with further criticisms at: '[wiki] Group Representation Constituency: Criticisms of the scheme': gerrymandering, enshrining racism/ increasing minority social handicap due to society negatively viewing massive GRC system as a crutch minorities need to rely on/ undeservedly blaming minorities for disrupting 86.2% of the political election system etc being some of the drawbacks of the GRC system of elections.

Given the multiple drawbacks of the GRC system of elections, what would be a good replacement with all the intentioned benefits of 'entrench minority parliamentary representation'?

One would be a return to the completely single seat method of elections but with caveats like Non-Constituency-Minority MP scheme and the Nominated Minority MP scheme (all permutations of currently in operation schemes) that would better 'entrench minority parliamentary representation' WITHOUT the attendant drawbacks as a/m.

Minority races will enjoy new found pride of being elected on their own virtues/ qualities by a multiracial electorate without having to just have token presence as part of a GRC team. Such a win would prove that minorities are directly acceptable as MPs representing a district, not just as part of a token contrivance to convince the world that Singapore is a peaceful multiracial society.

The lack of gerrymandering (a perennial problem with large district GRC elections) would also stabilise elections in Singapore, so that even independent minority race candidates will find before themselves a more level playing field unlike the current GRC electoral system which favours larger political parties so much so that everything else including minority racial interest become secondary. All political interest, minority race or otherwise, would under a solely SMC method of elections, have a fighting chance of being heard in parliament.

In line with the weight placed on ensuring Singapore's multi-racial constitution, there would be a minimum quota for minority MPs in parliament mirroring the current quota requirement for opposition MPs according to the current NCMP scheme. There would thus be a MINIMUM quota of minority MPs in parliament (23 by current ethnic proportions is suggested).

With the NCMP scheme entrenching minority race MP's representation in parliament and the opportunity to shine in public light, there will no longer be any more need for GRC system of elections and with that, lesser gerrymandering, better relationships between the electorate and their elected representatives, less party political bias/ interference during elections, more deserved social respect/dignity accrued to minority racial groups with verifiable competencies to win single seats on their own standing (instead of as a token presence where GRCs make up are concerned), more political transparency through the conduct of appropriate by-elections, lesser volatility of election results since ministers who are good MPs can always be expected to win back their seats.

(PS: should there be any complaint that capable minority race MPs are not given NCMP seats due to unfortunate circumstances (3 way contests etc) then some NMP seats can also be reserved from the total guaranteed quota of 23 and chosen by the respective key minority ethnic bodies).

PAP's continued dependence on the GRC system of elections to further entrench its hegemonic (authoritarian) rule will only weaken itself and eventually bring Singapore to its knees.
Status quo will bring failure to Singapore- one of titanic proportions: as the evil tentacles of the GRC system of elections spread wider and wider.
===============

The real reason for GRC system of elections was for PAP to cultivate more PAP yes men (as the mafia welcomes new entrants), always grateful to the PAP for lining the red carpet for their easy entry into parliament, through a political thievery such as gerrymandering, elimination of by-elections and other underhand methods:

'Without some assurance of a good chance of winning at least their first election, many able and successful young Singaporeans may not risk their careers to join politics,' Mr Goh Chok Tong, June 2006 ['GRCs make it easier to find top talent: SM'].

[Pict= [URL=http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2012/04/disassembling-grc-benefits-pap-1/]Disassembling GRC system benefits PAP (Part 1 of 3)[/URL]]

Click to expand...

the obvious catch is it will make NO difference as PAP will have big majority......... the move is to hide PeeM's intention to protect the turf of EP which is in danger given the last EP result,,,,,, one idiot withdrawal Tony Tan is history, habis!!
also trying to buy indian and malay votes by talking abt minority EP........ when PAP pushed for EP it is foregone conclusion that that they trampled the minority......... they cannot have the cake and eat it..... Also in a democracy it is that that the majority be represented by a minority instead of their own kind???
PeeM is either playing with fire or playing dirty again hiding behind the bushes of other non consequential bullshits

war is best form of peace said:

I want to have Loong dead by cancer ASAP.

Entire WP vanished also I don't give a shit.

Click to expand...

may your wish come true................... SOON

Not happy at all

The NCMP size will continue to grow until it becomes the Singapore's equivalent of British House of Lords, populated by WP members.

i think Pinky is already trying to prepare the people that there will be no opposition MPs in next elections................

due to more New Citizens................and continued Election Sorcery.............

Onitsuka said:

The NCMP size will continue to grow until it becomes the Singapore's equivalent of British House of Lords, populated by WP members.

Click to expand...

Nice to see our system becoming bicameral. We can have House of MPs and House of NCMPs

In Soccer sense, House of NCMPs is quite similar to Football clubs playing in UEFA Europa League :p

Onitsuka said:

The NCMP size will continue to grow until it becomes the Singapore's equivalent of British House of Lords, populated by WP members.

Click to expand...

Hehehe. Joke of the day. Lord Pritam?

Robert Half said:

Nice to see our system becoming bicameral. We can have House of MPs and House of NCMPs

In Soccer sense, House of NCMPs is quite similar to Football clubs playing in UEFA Europa League :p

Click to expand...

I suspect the Pappies are working in that direction, and the House of NCMPs will be able to veto public bills except money bills. Election will still be necessary in order for the country to appear democratic, but with a full-blown House of NCMPs the Opposition movement becomes redundant.

It's the best of both worlds for the current 70% populace where PAP continues to govern and Opposition can have as many voices in Parliament but without bite.

The system will then further evolve into House of Aristocrats versus House of Eunuchs.

mojito said:

Hehehe. Joke of the day. Lord Pritam?

Click to expand...

It's an ideal that WP is marching towards, intentionally or unintentionally. After all, WP is not shy to admit that they don't have any ambition to run the country. In fact, they publicly admit they are quite contented to be a co-driver and nothing more.

Even as co-driver, they know and they do steer clear of CPF, GIC and Temasek road. They earned their seats in Parliament with hard fought battles only to fight for MOE teachers, not about the education system but free parking lots in schools.

A House of NCMPs will suit WP's agenda pretty well. How often do they vote against bills passed by PAP ? A House of NCMPs simply utopia for WP. But a further tweak must be done to the NCMP scheme so that there will be enough representation of NCMPs from WP - increase the NCMP allowance. Otherwise, you will lose talented NCMPs to the private sector, like what happened at Punggol East.

The current NCMP salary is still very pathetic as compared to elected MP. Ambitious opposition candidate will still fight to enter Parliament as an elected MP. The pride is always there.

See how SL worked very hard from NCMP to become elected MP.

Nobody aim to become full-time NCMP unless the salary is the same as elected MP