G
General Veers
Guest
Apr 27, 2010
parliament
PAP's 'woes' own doing
<!-- by line --> By Cai Haoxiang
<!--background story, collapse if none--> Concerns over more opposition plan
IN A rare show of disagreement with new legislation tabled by the Government, several ruling party MPs yesterday took aim at constitutional changes that will increase the presence of opposition politicians in Parliament.
Five People's Action Party (PAP) MPs, during the debate over changes that will increase the minimum opposition presence from the current three to nine, raised concerns ranging from their lack of accountability to their effect on debate in the House. Their bottom line? It is not the job of the ruling party to get opposition politicians into Parliament.
Mr Alvin Yeo (Hong Kah GRC) suggested that the aim of the changes to the Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) scheme - to generate more robust debate in Parliament - may not be realised. 'The opposition regularly criticises PAP MPs for speaking with one voice...but have you ever heard (NCMP) Ms Sylvia Lim take a different position from that of (Hougang MP) Mr Low Thia Khiang?' he asked. Ms Lim and Mr Low both belong to the Workers' Party.
Only the sound and fury of debate - and not its quality - will be raised, he suggested.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Hong Kah GRC) and Ms Irene Ng (Tampines GRC) fretted over the NCMPs' lack of constituents to be accountable to. Nothing will hold back an unelected NCMP from making 'provocative comments and populist calls', said Ms Ng. While it is easy to criticise the Government, 'an elected MP with constituents to answer to thinks differently...and has to stand by what he or she says and represents', said Mr Zaqy.
NCMPs do not have the full rights of an elected MP. They cannot vote on amendments to the Constitution, on a Supply Bill, and no-confidence motions against the Government. But they can vote on changes to legislation and raise motions to introduce new legislation. Still, some MPs argued that increasing the number of NCMPs would pervert the electoral principle of one man, one vote.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC) said voters had reasons not to elect the losing candidate: They do not want him or her to speak on their behalf.
He suggested a 'one man, two votes' system that would allow residents to also give their seal of approval to the NCMP. Their first vote would decide the elected MP; the second would decide if the losing candidate deserved to be an NCMP. He also said the 'best losers' from the ruling party should also be eligible as NCMPs, thus making the scheme 'non-partisan'.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, however, shot down the suggestions. 'For the ruling party, they already have the majority and I don't think we need more of them in this House,' he said. He also defended the scheme's ability to bring about constructive debate in Parliament.
'I think it does give the opposition, whether as NCMP or elected MP, a chance to articulate what they stand for, what policies or programmes they have that can make a better life for Singaporeans. 'Otherwise we'll just be debating among ourselves, among PAP members. And we know the sentiment of Singaporeans...they want to see some real opposition MPs in Parliament.'
Ms Lim, the only NCMP in the current Parliament, opposed the changes. While she was in favour of seeing those voters who had cast a ballot for the opposition represented, she said the changes did not address other problems with the electoral system, such as gerrymandering by the ruling party. Being an NCMP has 'frustrating' limitations, she said. She cannot get permission from the Aljunied Town Council to use public spaces in the constituency she was defeated in. Neither can she write on residents' behalf to government agencies; she can only help them draft letters.
In contrast, losing PAP MPs are appointed grassroots advisers, which gives them the status to liaise with governmental bodies.
RACHEL CHANG
If the ruling party now has a political problem it is trying to solve, it is of its own doing, argued Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) Sylvia Lim yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: DOMINIC WONG
IF THE ruling party now has a political problem it is trying to solve, it is of its own doing, argued Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) Sylvia Lim yesterday. The Workers' Party (WP) chairman said the People's Action Party's (PAP) latest changes to the electoral landscape were made necessary by its own success in stamping out opposition representation in Parliament. She spoke during the debate on a Constitution Amendment Bill that will entrench the Nominated MP system and raise the allowable number of NCMPs from six to nine. NCMPs are a ticket to Parliament for losing opposition candidates with the most votes.
Ms Lim said that while the changes cater to Singaporeans' desire for more opposition voices, they fail to tackle the 'root causes' of why there are few such voices to begin with. These, she argued, were the PAP's 'double whammy' of GRCs and gerrymandering. GRCs, introduced in 1988, have grown in size over the years. The maximum number of MPs in each GRC has gone up from three in 1988, to four in 1991, to six in 1997. Meanwhile, the number of single-member wards has shrunk - from 42 in 1988, to 21 in 1991, to nine in 1997. Said Ms Lim, sardonically: 'Such was the PAP's need to dominate. This tiny number of nine has been with us till today such that when the Prime Minister announced there's an increase of single-member wards from nine to 12, we hailed this as progress.'
Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.
