If anything is certain, when one person leaves, another person will quickly take that vacated space.
And no, we are not talking about your work bestie who quit the other day.
We are talking about the Speaker of Parliament position recently vacated earlier this week.
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Mr Seah Kian Peng, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Marine Parade group representation constituency (GRC), is set to be the next Speaker.
Here is what we know about this new appointment.
Mr Seah Kian Peng Is Slated to Be the Next Speaker of Parliament
Following the former Speaker, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin’s resignation from his role and his ministerial capacities earlier this week, a new Speaker has been found.
This news is hot out of the oven.
The Prime Minister’s Office just released a press release today stating the Prime Minister’s intention to nominate Mr Seah Kian Peng as the Speaker of Parliament “at the next sitting of Parliament in August”.
Mr Tan resigned due to an affair with former Tampines GRC MP Ms Cheng Li Hui. Ms Cheng has since resigned from her political positions as well.
If you are kaypoh (Singlish for nosy) and want to know more about what happened between these two politicians, you may want to watch this summary video to catch up on the saga leading up to Mr Tan’s resignation.
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As of now, with Mr Tan gone from the Speaker position, Ms Jessica Tan is the acting Speaker (as she held the Deputy Speaker position). The other Deputy Speaker is Mr Christopher de Souza.
This looks set to continue until Mr Seah is officially appointed as Speaker.
Not to stir anything, but we wonder why Ms Tan was not officially nominated as Speaker.
He Is Currently the Group CEO of NTUC Enterprise
If you are wondering why Mr Seah was picked by our Prime Minister to be the Speaker, these reasons may provide some clarity.
For those unaware, Mr Seah is currently an MP for Marine Parade GRC.
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Mr Seah may also be a prime candidate for this role since he has experience carrying out such duties. Between 2011 and 2016, Mr Seah was the Deputy Speaker.
Mr Seah also likely possesses a wealth of experience with public speaking and dealing with contentious issues, given his CEO roles in his non-political career.
Currently, Mr Seah “helms the dual roles of Group CEO, NTUC Enterprise and Group CEO, FairPrice Group”.
These responsibilities hopefully provide Mr Seah with the grit and experience he needs to act as Speaker.
Some of the Speaker’s responsibilities include regulating and enforcing the rules of debate, deciding “who has the right to speak,” and putting “the question for the House to debate on and vote”.
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The Speaker also “acts as the representative of the House in its relations with other Parliaments and outside bodies” and “welcomes visiting dignitaries and represents Parliament at national events and during official visits abroad”.
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