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GE2025: WP to get two NCMP seats in the next Parliament, on top of 10 elected MPs
WP newcomer Andre Low and one member of the WP Tampines team will be offered NCMP seats in the next Parliament.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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SINGAPORE – The WP will be offered two Non-Constituency MP seats as its Jalan Kayu SMC and Tampines GRC candidates had the highest vote percentages amongst losers at the polls.
WP newcomer Andre Low, 33, lost to labour chief Ng Chee Meng, 56, with 48.53 per cent of the vote, while the WP team in Tampines got 47.37 per cent – losing in a four-cornered fight to the PAP.
This means that Mr Low and one member of the WP Tampines team will be offered NCMP seats in the next Parliament.
The WP team comprises party vice-chair Faisal Manap, 49; Mr Jimmy Tan, 53, co-founder of an industrial equipment supply firm; Dr Ong Lue Ping, 48, a senior principal clinical psychologist; Ms Eileen Chong, 33, former diplomat, and Mr Michael Thng, 37, a technology start-up co-founder.
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan, 62, who was the next best performing losing candidate with 46.81 per cent of the vote in Sembawang West SMC, will miss out on a seat in Parliament.
He lost to the PAP’s Poh Li San, 49, a senior vice-president at Changi Airport Group.
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The NCMP scheme, introduced in 1984, guarantees a minimum of 12 opposition MPs in Parliament.
As there are 10 elected opposition MPs this election, there will be two NCMP seats.
This is the same as the 2020 General Election, where the two seats went to the PSP’s Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa.
They had been on a five-member PSP team which secured 48.3 per cent of the vote in West Coast GRC.
The pair returned this year with party chair Dr Tan Cheng Bock and two new faces Sani Ismail and Sumarleki Amjah, but got 39.99 per cent of the vote, meaning they will lose their Parliamentary presence.
This means that there will only be two parties in the 15th Parliament – the PAP and WP – down from three in the previous term.
NCMPs are accorded all the rights, privileges, and duties of elected MPs but are not allowed to vote on specific kinds of motions and Bills.
Opposition candidates have not always accepted NCMP seats.
In 2015, WP’s former Punggol East SMC MP Lee Li Lian declined an NCMP seat after being the best performing losing opposition candidate at that year’s general election.
The seat eventually went to academic Daniel Goh, who was on the WP’s East Coast GRC team.
