Calling an election

A General Election can only be called after the President dissolves Parliament.

A writ of election is issued giving notice of the day (not earlier than five days nor later than one month from the date of the writ), time and place of the nomination of candidates.

The Returning Officer then issues a notice of election at least four clear days before nomination day, stipulating the date, time and place for nomination of candidates, as well as details of the nomination papers.

Polling Day must be not less than nine days or more than eight weeks after the notice of contested elections is issued.

Parliament

Legislative power in Singapore is vested in a single-chamber Parliament, which has a life of five years.

The House is made up of elected MPs, who are returned in a general election or by-election, Non-Constituency MPs, and Nominated MPs.

Elected MPs form the bulk of Parliament and are elected on a one-man-one-vote system on simple majority, popularly known as first-to-pass the post.

Each Single-Member Constituency (SMC) returns one MP, while each GRC returns three to six MPs, one of whom must be from the Malay Community or the Indian or Other Minority Communities. This is to ensure that the minority groups are represented in Parliament.

Non-constituency MPs (NCMPs)

To ensure that some members from the opposition parties are represented in Parliament, provision is made for the appointment of three, or up to six, NCMPs.

Under the NCMP scheme, unsuccessful candidates who polled the highest number of votes may be offered a seat in Parliament, provided they received at least 15 percent of the votes in the constituencies where they ran.

Nominated MPs (NMPs)

The President can appoint up to nine NMPs for two-year terms, on the recommendation of a Special Select Committee of Parliament. NMPs have to be Singapore citizens who meet the same qualifications as candidates but who do not stand for election. They can serve more than one term and can be appointed as Cabinet Ministers.

NMPs are nominated by members of the public or functional groups such as chambers of commerce, the NTUC and professional bodies. They can keep their political party affiliation but must be non-partisan in Parliament.

NCMPs and NMPs do not vote on financial and constitutional matters.