You Can Now Nominate Someone, Even Your Favourite Influencer, to be a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP)

In the parliament, there are three types of Members of Parliament (MPs).

One is the MP that was voted in by the people.

The second is a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), where basically, they were the better losers.

To find out more about the position, you can read here or watch this video to the end:

And the third is the Nominated MP (NMP).

What Is An NMP?

Basically, they are individuals who are not related to any political party and is picked by the President of Singapore.

NMPs have the same rights as elected MPs and can ask questions and suggest legislation in parliament except on matters relating to:

• Constitution amendments
• Removing the president
• No confidence in the government
• Money and supply bills

Up to 9 NMPs can be nominated into parliament, according to AsiaOne.

And Now, You Can Nominate People You Think Makes Good NMPs

From now until 23 Nov 2020, members of the public can now nominate names on who they think can contribute most in parliament.

Yes, even Xiaxue for those who want to see sparks fly within the hallowed halls.

Here are the requirements for the submission:

• A Singaporean
• Aged 21 and above
• Able to vote based on the current registrar
• Able to attend parliament sittings
• Have rendered “distinguished” public service, brought honour to Singapore or stand out in their fields such as arts and letters, sports, culture, the sciences, etc

You can find out more information on how to submit names here.

P/S: After reading through the website, you’ll quickly come to realise that name submission isn’t as easy as it sounds. In other words, only for those really serious about it.

Selection By Special Committee

Names submitted will be vetted by a committee helmed by Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin.

Members of the committee include:

• MTI Chan Chun Sing
• Health Minister Gan Kim Yong
• Minister of State for Manpower and Education Gan Siow Huang
• Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development Indranee Rajah
• Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman
• Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera
• Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan

After the window of submission closes on 23 Nov 2020 at 4.30pm, the committee will inform the MPs and seek their views on the matter.

They will also decide on the criteria and interview the candidates nominated so if some joker decided Amos Yee would be a good candidate, he might not make it past them.

The committee will then submit a list of names to the president of Singapore for her consideration.

Current NMPs

NMPs service for a period of 2 and a half years.

Currently, the NMPs are:

• Arasu Duraisamy (Singapore Port Workers’ Union general secretary and an elected member of the NTUC Central Committee)
• Douglas Foo (Sakae Holdings executive chairman and Singapore Manufacturing Federation president)
• Terence Ho Wee San (Singapore Chinese Orchestra managing director)
• Lim Sun Sun (Head of humanities, arts and social sciences at Singapore University of Technology and Design and Media Literacy Council member)
• Abbas Ali Mohamed Irshad (Roses of Peace founder and director)
• Anthea Ong Lay Theng (Social entrepreneur and Anagami founder)
• Irene Quay Siew Ching (Former president of Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore)
• Walter Theseira (Transport economist at the Singapore University of Social Sciences)
• Yip Pin Xiu (Paralympian swimmer)