Public invited to submit names for Nominated Members of Parliament

SINGAPORE: Members of the public can submit their nominations for individuals to become Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) from Wednesday (Oct 8).

A constitutional provision for the appointment of up to nine NMPs was made in 1990 to ensure a wide representation of community views in parliament.

NMPs are appointed by the president for a term of two-and-a-half years on the recommendation of a Special Select Committee of Parliament.

The eight-member committee is chaired by Speaker Seah Kian Peng and comprises Mr Chan Chun Sing, Mr Desmond Lee, Ms Indranee Rajah, Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Dr Janil Puthucheary, Ms Sim Ann and Mr Louis Chua.

A press release from the Office of the Clerk of Parliament on Tuesday provided more information on the nomination process and criteria.

"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," said the office.

Under the constitution, a person can qualify to be an NMP if they are a Singapore citizen aged 21 or above, their name appears on the current register of electors, has been a resident in Singapore for a period of not less than 10 years and is a resident on the date of their nomination for the role.

They should also be able to take an "active part in the proceedings of Parliament", to speak and write at least one of the country's official languages, the office said.

The nominated person should also not have been disqualified from being a Member of Parliament under the constitution.

Mr Seah will meet with seven functional groups to inform them of the procedure to submit nominations to the committee.

A coordinator has been appointed by the speaker for each group to seek the views of their organisations and to submit names of suitable candidates to the committee for consideration, said the office.

The coordinators of the seven functional groups are:

• Business and industry: Mr Teo Siong Seng, chairman of the Singapore Business Federation
• Labour: Ms K Thanaletchimi, president of the National Trades Union Congress
• Professions: Dr Wong Chiang Yin, master of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore
• Social service organisations: Ms Tan Li San, CEO of the National Council of Social Service
• Civic and people sector: Mr Jimmy Toh Yong Leng, CEO of the People's Association
• Tertiary education institutions: Professor Tan Eng Chye, president of the National University of Singapore
• Media, arts and sports organisation: Ms Goh Swee Chen, chairman of the National Arts Council

The invitation to submit names to the Special Select Committee is open to the public and all applications will be considered.

Submissions must be made using the forms available on the parliament website.

Alternatively, completed forms and supporting documents may be submitted by hand at the Office of the Clerk of Parliament located at Parliament House.

The deadline for submissions is Nov 6, 4.30pm.
 

SPECIAL SELECT COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION PROCESS

After the closing date of the submissions, the committee will consult MPs on the proposed individuals.

They will then assess all applications and deliberate on the people to interview. It will be followed by the interviewing of candidates over a few days.

After the interviews, the committee will discuss and agree on the people to nominate as NMP for appointment by the president.

The committee will submit a list of people to the president for appointment as NMPs and then publish its report to parliament.

The individuals proposed will be appointed NMPs by the president and presented with their instruments of appointment. They will take their oaths of allegiance at a sitting in parliament.