SINGAPORE: Progress Singapore Party (PSP) members Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai will take up the two Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP) seats offered to the party, it announced on Tuesday (Jul 14).
They were part of the five-member team which contested West Coast GRC, along with PSP secretary-general Tan Cheng Bock, Mr Jeffrey Khoo and Mr Nadarajah Loganathan.
As the “best losers” of the Jul 10 General Election, PSP’s West Coast team were given the opportunity to pick two of the five candidates for the NCMP positions.
It garnered 48.31 per cent of the vote against the People’s Action Party (PAP) team led by Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran.
READ: GE2020: PAP wins West Coast GRC with 51.69% of votes against Tan Cheng Bock’s team
Ms Poa and Mr Leong will join the 10 elected members from the opposition Workers’ Party in Parliament.
Progress Singapore Party candidates (front centre) Tan Cheng Bock; (back, from left to right) Hazel Poa, Jeffrey Khoo, Nadarajah Loganathan; and (not in picture) Leong Mun Wai. (Photo: Ruth Smalley)
The NCMP scheme allows losing opposition candidates with the highest percentage of votes to be offered seats in Parliament – if the number of elected opposition members falls short of 12.
In the case of this General Election, two NCMP seats were offered, to ensure that the new Parliament has at least 12 opposition MPs.
READ: GE2020: Opposition vote swing shows people are looking beyond bread and butter issues, analysts say
Dr Tan had said during the election campaign that he would not take up the NCMP role if he got the opportunity, calling the scheme a “ploy” to entice voters from opposition parties.
Dr Tan added, however, that he would leave the decision to the party.
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