Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) are members of the opposition parties who are appointed as members of the Parliament of Singapore even though they had lost in the parliamentary election.

The NCMP scheme was introduced in 1984 to provide a voice for the opposition in parliament. At that time, the Singapore legislative was dominated by the People's Action Party

People's Action Party

The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....

 (PAP) and without members of the opposition parties during the period from 1968 to 1981. In 1981, an opposition candidate Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...

 won a seat in the Anson

Anson

-People:Surname* Adelbert John Robert Anson , Canadian Anglican Bishop* Albert Edward Anson , British actor* Andy Anson, British businessman* Augustus Anson , British Victoria Cross recipient and politician...

 by-election and broke the PAP dominance in the legislature. However, Jeyaratnam could not initiate a meaningful debate, as he could not find another MP to second his motion. The PAP recognised the need for an "intelligent" opposition to provide more alternative voices in the parliament. Proportional Representation was at one time considered but was rejected because of worries that it could induce radicals to enter parliament.

In May 1984, Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong

Goh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 28 November 1990 to 12 August 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime...

 proposed an amendment in the Constitution to introduce the NCMP scheme. Goh believed that the presence of opposition MPs in parliament would check the PAP and voice discontent about government polices. His perception was that this would provide greater legitimacy to the legislature and greater public confidence in the Singaporean political system

Political system

A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems...

.

Since then, the standard arrangement has been that NCMP seats go to the top opposition losers who obtained more than 15% of the votes in their respective constituencies, although as evidenced below this is not always accepted. Opposition parties in Singapore and critics of the system often state that the system effectively permanently resigns non-PAP MPs to a 'second class' status and is a publicity stunt to lend legitimacy to the dominant party

Dominant-party system

A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a system where there is "a category of parties/political organizations that have successively won election victories and whose future defeat cannot be envisaged or is unlikely for the foreseeable future." A wide range of parties have been...

 status of the PAP within the context of democracy in the country.

Later, in the 1984 general elections, the PAP saw a drop of 13.4% in its votes and lost two seats. One NCMP seat was offered but rejected by members of the opposition parties. In the 1988 election, Singapore Democratic Party

Singapore Democratic Party

The Singapore Democratic Party is an opposition political party in Singapore.The party was founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, who as Secretary-General became the party's first Member of Parliament in 1984 when he was elected as MP for Potong Pasir...

's Chiam See Tong

Chiam See Tong

Chiam See Tong is a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He is the country's longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament . Between 1984 and 2011, he represented the constituency of Potong Pasir in Singapore's Parliament....

 was the only opposition MP elected, and two Workers' Party

Workers' Party of Singapore

The Workers' Party of Singapore is a centre-left opposition political party in Singapore. The party currently has six elected seats in Parliament, with the party's Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh serving as Members of...

 members took the NCMP seats. In 1991, no NCMP seats were offered as four opposition MPs were elected to Parliament. In 1997, an NCMP seat was offered to and occupied by Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...

. In the 2001 election, only 1 NCMP seat was occupied by Chia Kiah Hong Steve of the National Solidarity Party.

In the 2006 election, Sylvia Lim, the chairman of the Workers' Party

Workers' Party of Singapore

The Workers' Party of Singapore is a centre-left opposition political party in Singapore. The party currently has six elected seats in Parliament, with the party's Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, Chairman Sylvia Lim, Chen Show Mao, Muhamad Faisal Manap and Pritam Singh serving as Members of...

 garnered 43.9% of the vote in Aljunied GRC. As the best-performing opposition loser in the election, the Elections Department

Elections Department

The Elections Department is a department of the government of Singapore that oversees the procedure for elections in Singapore, including parliamentary elections and presidential elections. It sees that elections are fairly carried out and has a supervisory role to safeguard against electoral fraud...

 announced that one of the five members of Sylvia Lim's team would become the NCMP. After meeting with the Central Executive Committee

Executive Committee

Executive Committee may refer to:* The Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland, a government body in the United Kingdom 1921–1972* The Northern Ireland Executive, a government body in the United Kingdom...

 of the Workers' Party, Sylvia Lim was nominated as the next NCMP in parliament.

Like Nominated Members of Parliament

Nominated Member of Parliament

A Nominated Member of Parliament is a Member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed instead of being elected into office by the people, and who does not belong to any political party or represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in Parliament...

, NCMPs can vote on all issues except amendment of the constitution, public funds, vote of no confidence in the government,
and removing the president from office.

Sylvia Lim said that government departments ignore her requests because she is an NCMP.

Constitution Amendment to the NCMP Scheme

In April 2010, Parliament amended the constitution. Parliament may now have up to 9 NCMPs, up from 6. During the debate on the passing of the bill, Sylvia Lim, the sole NCMP in Parliament, argued that the amendment made a "bad situation better but increasing NCMPs is not the solution to a more robust political system"

List of NCMPs

Parliament session	Name	Picture	Born-Died	Took Office	Left Office	Political Party	Losing Constituency
07th	Lee Siew Choh Lee Siew Choh Dr. Lee Siew Choh was a politician and medical doctor from Singapore. Initially a member of the People's Action Party , he became a leader of the breakaway Barisan Sosialis in 1961...		1917-2002	3 September 1988	31 August 1991		Eunos GRC
08th	No NCMP seats alloted during the 1991 election Singaporean general election, 1991 General elections were held in Singapore on 31 August 1991. The result was a victory for the People's Action Party, which won 77 of the 81 seats... 31 August 1991—2 January 1997
09th	Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...		1926-2008	2 January 1997	3 November 2001		Cheng San GRC
10th	Steve Chia Kiah Hong Steve Chia Steve Chia Kiah Hong is a politician from Singapore. He is the former Secretary-General and current Treasurer of the opposition National Solidarity Party...		1970-	3 November 2001	6 May 2006		Choa Chu Kang SMC
11th 11th Parliament of Singapore The 11th Parliament of Singapore is the current Parliament of Singapore, and has been in session since November 2, 2006. The membership was set by the 2006 Singapore General Election on May 7, 2006, and it has changed twice due to the deaths of Jurong GRC MP Dr Ong Chit Chung in 2008, and Ang Mo...	Sylvia Lim Swee Lian		1965-	6 May 2006	7 May 2011		Aljunied GRC
12th	Lina Loh Woon Lee		1949-	7 May 2011	Incumbent		Potong Pasir SMC
	Yee Jenn Jong Yee Jenn Jong Yee Jenn Jong is a Singaporean politician from the Workers' Party of Singapore who is currently a Non-constituency Member of Parliament of the 12th Parliament of Singapore.-Political career:...		1965-	7 May 2011	Incumbent		Joo Chiat SMC
	Gerald Giam Yean Song Gerald Giam Gerald Giam Yean Song is a Singaporean politician from the Workers' Party who is currently a Non-constituency Member of Parliament of the 12th Parliament of Singapore.-Political career:...		1977-	7 May 2011	Incumbent		East Coast GRC