The public may submit the names of people they wish to see as Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) from now until Feb 23, with an eight-member committee led by Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob to then put forward the nominees for appointment by the President.

Political analysts yesterday affirmed the importance of NMPs, despite efforts by the ruling People’s Action Party and the opposition Workers’ Party to bring party members from more diverse backgrounds into the House.

Following last week’s announcement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that Non-Constituency MPs would have equal voting rights as elected MPs and the Constitution would be changed to allow up to 12 NCMPs in the House, law don and former NMP Eugene Tan said NMPs have to demonstrate that they still have an important role in Parliament.

… S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies’ Assoc Prof Alan Chong said while pro-opposition members of society would see the NMP positions as a “compensation avenue” for the fact that the opposition did not do as well as some had expected in the previous General Election, for the ruling PAP, the NMP scheme is a continuation of a “creative exercise in parliamentary innovation”. “Nobody can say government policies are made without consultation because the NMPs will be there to provide critical (voices),” he said.