http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/432138/1/.html
changes to electoral system to encourage wider range of views in parliament
singapore: The singapore government has announced proposed changes to the country's electoral system to encourage a wider range of views in parliament, including opposition and non-government views.
Prime minister lee hsien loong announced these proposed changes in parliament on wednesday.
He said each parliament will have at least nine opposition members and nine nominated members of parliament (nmps), so that there will be at least 18 members of parliament (mps) who are not from the ruling party.
The number of non-constituency mps (ncmps), who did not win a seat during an election but have the next highest percentage of votes, will increase from six to nine.
A proposal will be made to the parliamentary elections act to set a cap of two ncmps to come from any group representation constituency (grc). Parliament will also automatically have nominated mps.
Mr lee added that the nominated mp scheme will be expanded to include singaporeans from civil society like young activists or those in the environmental movement.
He also said that there will be fewer six-member grcs and a range of smaller grcs in the next election, while the number of single member constituencies will be increased to 12 from the current nine.
Prime minister lee explained that he is making the changes now, not because he is about to call elections, but so that the matter can be discussed and changes made in ample time before the next election.
Click here to view the full transcript of the prime minister's speech.