GE2025 independent candidates Darryl Lo, Jeremy Tan eye Nominated MP seats

SINGAPORE: Two independent candidates from May’s general election have set their sights on becoming Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs), who are meant to offer alternative voices in the House, CNA has learnt.

On Wednesday (Oct 29), the former Radin Mas candidate Darryl Lo told CNA that he has submitted the necessary documents for his nomination online, showing a copy of the confirmation email he received after he sent in his bid.

In response to queries, Mr Jeremy Tan, who contested the Mountbatten single-member ward in the same election, also told CNA that he was intending to do the same ahead of the Nov 6 nomination deadline.

The pair gained prominence during the 2025 polls, with Mr Lo garnering 23.52 per cent of the votes in a three-way fight for Radin Mas. He emerged second, with the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Melvin Yong getting the most votes.

As for Mr Tan, he secured 36.18 per cent of the votes in a Mountbatten contest won by PAP new face Gho Sze Kee.

The nomination process for the NMP seats started on Oct 8. The applications will be submitted to the eight-member Special Select Committee chaired by Speaker Seah Kian Peng.

According to the parliament website, an NMP must be a Singapore citizen aged at least 21 on the day of nomination and currently registered in the Register of Electors. He or she must be a Singapore resident on the day of nomination and also for a total period of at least 10 years before that, and be sufficiently proficient in English, Malay, Mandarin or Tamil so as to participate in parliamentary proceedings.

There can be up to nine NMPs appointed to parliament.

While nominees can be proposed by the seven functional groups, such as the labour movement and social service organisations, a person not selected by any of them may be proposed by a member of the general public.

Each functional group can propose up to two persons for consideration. 

All nominees must have a proposer, a seconder and at least four assentors who are currently registered in the Register of Electors.

The Special Select Committee will consider all proposals received before the deadline of 4.30pm on Nov 6.

CNA understands that parliament will only reveal the total number of submissions received after the deadline.

“A DIFFERENT BALL GAME”

Mr Lo told CNA he submitted his nomination a week ahead of the deadline as he was heading for national service reservist training on Thursday.

He said that the role of an NMP is “a different ball game” from that of an elected MP, as the former does not have a town council to run but is still able to discuss and debate national policies.

“I want the NMP seat to ensure that at least an ordinary youth’s voice is heard in parliament and to push for policy changes that will benefit Singapore and Singaporeans,” Mr Lo told CNA, adding that his proposer, seconder and six assentors are all youths above the voting age.

He noted that in GE2025, he became the only independent candidate in Singapore’s history to come in second in a three-cornered fight.

His independent run showed that he is not against any party, be it the ruling party or the opposition, but instead focused on pushing for actual policy changes.

“It does seem to me that Singaporeans do value independence a lot, especially after how two NMPs left before the end of their terms and one of them even ran as a party candidate,” said Mr Lo.

He was referring to former NMPs Raj Joshua Thomas and Syed Harun Alhabsyi, who both resigned towards the tail end of the last parliament — the first time an NMP has quit before the end of their two-and-a-half-year term.

Both men joined the PAP afterwards, with Dr Syed Harun eventually entering parliament on the Nee Soon GRC ticket.

“Hopefully the Special Select Committee will bring back trust to the NMP scheme,” said Mr Lo.

His fellow GE2025 independent candidate Mr Tan told CNA that due to the lack of a party affiliation, the NMP scheme “is one of many avenues available in Singapore for independent voices to look out for fellow Singaporeans”.

“Running for GE2025 as an independent has enabled me to learn from many former NMPs and different civic groups in society, and I hope to bring these lessons to parliament for the future of Singapore,” Mr Tan told CNA.

NEXT STEPS

After the Nov 6 deadline, the Special Select Committee will consult elected MPs and seek their views on the nominees, followed by an assessment of the applications.

The committee will meet over a few days to interview the candidates, before discussing and agreeing on the final nominations for appointment by the president as NMPs.

“The persons to be nominated by the Committee shall be persons who have rendered distinguished public service, or who have brought honour to the Republic, or who have distinguished themselves in the field of arts and letters, sports, culture, the sciences, business, industry, the professions, social or community service or the labour movement,” the Office of the Clerk of Parliament said previously.

It will then submit a list to the president and thereafter publish its report to parliament.

Those proposed will then be appointed as NMPs by the president, before taking their oaths of allegiance during a parliament sitting.

Singapore Management University (SMU) associate professor of law Eugene Tan said this is “probably the first time unsuccessful independent election candidates are seeking to be appointed as NMPs”.

He noted that while the two men are burnishing their "non-partisan status" before the Special Select Committee, the NMP selection process is completely different from that of competitive politics.

“Their election bid in May will not feature at all in the committee’s appraisal of their NMP applications. The criteria are wholly different,” said Assoc Prof Tan, who is a former NMP.

He said the NMP appointments could be a “consolation” after an unsuccessful GE outing, adding that both men could have been buoyed by their strong showing at the polls and are thus seeking to find another route to becoming legislators.

Institute of Policy Studies senior research fellow Teo Kay Key said the two candidates had shown from their electoral outings that they are “qualified and credible as political candidates, and have also previously expressed interest in continuing their work in a public platform”.

The NMP applications therefore seem to be the next possible way for them to continue contributing more systematically, said Dr Teo.

However, it might raise questions on how closely linked the NMP scheme would be to electoral politics in a larger sense, given that the pair's public standings were raised primarily from their GE performance, she added.