MPs to vote on NCMP seat after debate on President’s Address

SINGAPORE — Parliament will debate on the motion filed by the Workers’ Party (WP) on the third Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat earliest next Wednesday (Jan 27), after the debate on the President’s Address.

Citing the seven days’ notice period, the Parliament Secretariat said in response to TODAY’s queries: “According to the Standing Orders, debate on the President’s Address will take place first as such debate has precedence over discussions on motions.”

On Monday, the WP said in a statement that party chief Low Thia Khiang had filed a motion last Friday on the NCMP seat offered to Ms Lee Li Lian — who lost her Punggol East seat in the General Election (GE) — to be declared vacant and given to Associate Professor Daniel Goh. WP members Leon Perera and Dennis Tan have been sworn in as the other NCMPs, after Ms Lee declined to take up the post.

The Parliament Secretariat said that all MPs are allowed to speak during the debate on the motion and backbenchers and officeholders will be allocated up to 20 minutes and 40 minutes respectively. At the end of the debate, a vote will be taken.

On Sunday, Minster for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu, who is also Leader of the House, said Ms Lee’s decision to give up her NCMP seat should not be taken lightly, adding that those who voted for Ms Lee would want to understand the basis of her decision.

Following her GE loss, Ms Lee announced that she would decline the NCMP seat. Among other reasons, she said she respected the choice of the voters who did not vote for her and she wanted to give other WP members a chance to speak up in Parliament.

In a Facebook post yesterday, she said that the decision to give up the NCMP seat was made “after serious consideration”. Alluding to Ms Fu’s comments, she added: “(The decision) was not taken lightly. Let’s not lose focus on the larger national issues in Parliament and work together to better the lives of all Singaporeans in this country.”