Parliament votes to fill Lee Li Lian’s NCMP seat, WP abstains

Photo: Reuters

Former Punggol East Member of Parliament (MP) Lee Li Lian had her Non-Constituency MP seat declared vacant on Friday, after a passionate debate by members of both the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and the opposition Workers’ Party.

The motion to fill her vacant seat was made by WP chief Low Thia Khiang, though all WP members later abstained from the vote after an amendment added by PAP whip Chan Chun Sing.

Both Low and Aljunied MP Sylvia Lim requested their party’s objection to the amendment be noted when Speaker Halimah Yacob called for a vote.

The amendment to the motion said the WP supported the “political manoeuvre to take advantage of” the NCMP seat, despite Low having compared the NCMP position to “duckweed” a few days ago.

In a statement later, the WP said it abstained from the vote “so as to avoid endorsing the PAP’s amendment to the original motion”.

Earlier, Lim had said how Lee, as the incumbent who lost, made the choice not to take up an NCMP seat to “give respect to the voters’ decision”.

“Personally, if I had been in her shoes, I would have done the same,” Lim said.

Chan said the PAP had “no trouble at all” filling the vacant NCMP seat, but took issue with Lee’s reason for giving it up.

“It is most regrettable that Miss Lee has chose to reject her NCMP seat, and with that, her responsibility to her voters and Singapore,” Chan said.

Chan also brought up Lee’s comments after the election results were announced, when she had said the “NCMP role is better suited for an aspiring MP who has no such experience and should take this up to show how he/she can contribute in Parliament”.

“Miss Lee got it wrong here,” Chan said. “The right and the privilege was given to her by Punggol East residents. It was not for her to give it to someone else.”

In a Facebook post explaining her decision, Lee had said she quit her job after being elected in 2013, but it was not possible to be a full-time NCMP, and it would be unfair to her future employer. She also added she wanted to spend more time with her family. The former MP gave birth to her daughter in mid-2014.

The WP previously stated it would like Daniel Goh, who contested in East Coast GRC with current NCMP Leon Perera, to take up Lee’s vacant seat. Singapore law allows for a maximum of two NCMPs from the same GRC team.

On NCMPs and “duckweed”

During the debate, Chan, current Punggol East MP Charles Chong, and Nee Soon MP Lee Bee Wah all criticised the WP for being against the NCMP scheme, despite several party members having taken up the position in recent parliaments.

In his party’s defence, Perera said that while he was against the NCMP scheme in principle, he felt he could contribute to the debate by being in Parliament.

“A passion for real political balance and real democracy is why I am here. It is why my Workers’ Party colleagues are all here,” Perera said.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong proposed on Wednesday that changes be made to the NCMP scheme, increasing the maximum number of NCMPs in Parliament from nine to 12 to give more diversified voices and giving them more voting rights.

In response, WP chief Low said NCMPs had “no muscle”, and were like “duckweed on the water of a pond”, having no roots because they did not have a constituency and run a town council.

According to the Public Service Division, “NCMPs and NMPs (Nominated Members of Parliament) have smaller roles than MPs, do not have a community role as they do not have constituents, and also have a reduced legislative role in that they cannot vote on government budgets and changes to the Constitution”.

This smaller role is reflected in their annual allowance of $28,900, which is 15 per cent of an MP’s $192,500.

In Parliament on Friday, Chan said he, as party whip, would be the first to put PAP members in their place if they called NCMPs “second-class” MPs.

“But on the other hand, please do not call them ‘duckweeds’. Because even in a pond, duckweed has a purpose,” Chan said.