OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT

Dr Tan Cheng Bock asked the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence whether the Government recognises the desire of Singaporeans to have an opposition in Parliament even though they want the People's Action Party in charge of the Government, and whether Town Councils will frustrate this desire as voters may be reluctant to vote in opposition Members of Parliament whose administrative skills may still be untested.

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence (Mr Goh Chok Tong): Mr Speaker, Sir, ---

Mr Chiam See Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, on a point of order. Just now the Minister refused to answer my question because, he said, it was hypothetical.

Mr Speaker: Mr Chiam, we have already gone to Question No. 3.

Mr Chiam See Tong: I am coming to the point.

Mr Speaker: Will you please sit down?

Mr Chiam See Tong: This question appears to be hypothetical.

Mr Speaker: You can ask another Question at a later date. Mr Goh.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government is confident that Singa- poreans want the PAP to be in charge of Singapore.

Mr Chiam See Tong: How do you know?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: At the same time, it knows that some Singaporeans, in particular the younger ones, want to see the Opposition represented in Parliament. They believe that Opposition MPs can check the PAP, ask Ministers questions which Government MPs do not dare to ask, and voice their discontentment about Government policies which they do not like. This desire is understandable. It should be accommodated and not over-ridden.

The Government believes the presence of Opposition MPs in Parliament since 1981 has been a valuable education for Singaporeans. In answering questions and attacks from the Opposition, the Government can show that it is able to justify its policies against objections and that it has nothing to hide. After watching Opposition MPs in action on television, Singaporeans can learn the limits of what a Parliamentary Opposition can do.

The Town Council legislation requires MPs of HDB constituencies to look after the administration of their housing estates. This will make voters more careful to vote for candidates, PAP or Opposition, in whom they have confidence in running their constituencies well. A vote for the Opposition cannot simply be a protest vote. It is a vote for an Opposition candidate who will be the voter's MP and also his Town Councillor. If an Opposition candidate is elected, he will run the Town Council. In other words, the voter will have to live with his choice in a very personal and immediate way, because the person he voted in will run his estate. Of course, this means that the Opposition political parties will try to field better candidates for elections. And those which do not are less likely to win.

I must point out that, any way, the law already provides for the electorate's desire of an Opposition in Parliament. Through the non-constituency MP provision, if fewer than three Opposition MPs are returned in a general election, the number of Opposition MPs will be topped up to three. In addition to the MPs elected in the constituencies, those Opposition candi- dates who polled the highest percentage votes will be declared non-constituency MPs. There will always be at least three MPs from the Opposition to voice dissent in Parliament.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock (Ayer Rajah): Mr Speaker, Sir, why does the Government want to resurrect this non-constituency MP when no Opposition parties in the last general election wanted to take up this offer?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, the non-constituency MP's seat was offered to Mr M.P.D. Nair of the Workers' Party and Mr Tan Chee Kien of the Singapore United Front in the last election. Both of them turned it down. But they represented only two Opposition parties. They cannot speak for all the other Opposition parties.

The non-constituency MP (NCMP) provision is now a feature of our parliamentary system. It is part of our Constitution. The Constitution provides for six seats for Opposition Members.

The need for this provision is even greater now. Why is that so? It is because we have introduced the Town Councils Act. After the general election, Town Councils will be established in every constituency in Singapore by stages. As I have stated earlier, Town Councils will, in a sense, compel the voters to examine the candidates more carefully because the candidates who are returned as Members of Parliament will have to look aftertheir constituencies. This may deprive those Singaporeans, who may not support the Government, of a voice in Parliament. But we are confident that when voters examine our candidates against Opposition candidates closely, and against the fact that the MPs are responsible for their constituencies, in all likelihood they will vote in our candidates.

The NCMP provision will ensure that there will always be an Opposition in Parliament, regardless of the outcome of the results in a general election. This way, voters can always vote with the knowledge that there will be a good government to look after Singapore, plus MPs of integrity to look after their Town Councils and as well as Opposition MPs in Parliament to voice whatever dissent they may have.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Sir, I would like to ask the First Deputy Prime Minister whether he agrees with the feeling of some Singaporeans that non-constituency MPs are actually second-class Members of Parliament.

The other question is: if the Government is really serious about the very useful role that this non-constituency MPs will play in Parliament, then why is there provision for only three non-constituency MPs?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am aware that the Member for Potong Pasir has said that the non-constituency MP is a second-class MP.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Yes, coming by the back door.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: I do not agree with him at all. A non-constituency MP is not a second-class MP. If anything, he is a privileged MP. He does not look after the constituency and he can speak on any subject he likes in Parliament. Through his performance in Parliament, he can establish himself. The media are open to him. He can call press conferences. He will appear on "Today in Parliament" and if he is good and skilful, he can pose a threat to the PAP MP whom he narrowly defeated in the last election. That is provided he can show that he is better than the PAP MP whom he defeated. Indeed, if he can show that he is much better than the other PAP MPs, he will be able to take advantage of his position in Parliament to attract other good candidates to join him, or his party, and thereby try and capture more seats in subsequent elections.

The non-constituency MP provision is not unique to Singapore in the sense that another country, Mauritius, has a similar provision. In Mauritius they too have a provision whereby the candidates who scored the highest percentage of votes in an election but who are not returned in the first round can enter Parliament. In their case, it is to allow for a racially-balanced slate of candidates in Parliament. In other words, in Mauritius, if the Parliament is not racially balanced, the candidate from the community which is not adequately represented in Parliament can be returned in a second round. This second-round entry into Parliament by no means make the Mauritian MP a second class MP.

The Member for Potong Pasir has said sometime ago that looking after the Town Council should not be the job of a Member of Parliament. If he is so afraid of shouldering the responsibility, he can take up an NCMP seat in Parliament, if it is offered to him in the next election.

As to the second question by the Member for Ayer Rajah, he might not have remembered that the Constitution provides for six non-constituency MPs. But as this idea is a new one, the Parliamentary Elections Act provides for only three for a start. It can be increased to six, if necessary. There will be no need to amend the Constitution for this.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Does the First Deputy Prime Minister not agree that this idea of an NCMP presumes that the PAP will always be in charge and people only want Opposition to be represented? Is that not true? That is the first question I am putting to the First Deputy Prime Minister.

The second question is, on what basis does he come to the conclusion that the people of Singapore today wants the PAP to be in charge and that they want the Opposition only to be represented in Parliament? In fact, the First Deputy Prime Minister has admitted that there is a possibility of the Opposition winning the general elections. He has admitted that there is a possibility of what he calls "a freak election result". But to us, it is not a freak election result if the Opposition wins.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, everybody knows that Singaporeans want the PAP to be in charge of Singapore.

Mr Chiam See Tong: On what basis?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: If he does not believe me, he can always take a poll, because I do not have to take a sample on this. I know that Singaporeans want the PAP to be in charge of Singapore. But at the same time we recognize that there are some Singaporeans who want an Opposition in Parliament as well. We recognize that as far back as 1984. Hence the introduction of this non-constituency MP provision in our Constitution and in our Parliamentary Elections Act.

I do not assume that the PAP will always be in power 100 years from now, or 200 years from now. I do not assume that. But we do assume that Singaporeans want a mainstream party to be in charge of Singapore and that that mainstream party in all likelihood will occupy the majority number of seats in Parliament. If they occupy the full House less three, then there will be three Opposition MPs in Parliament. They do not need to activate the non-constituency MPs provision. But if that mainstream party fills up every seat in this House, then there will be no Opposition MP in Parliament. Then, the provision will be activated. Maybe 100 years from now, it is possible that another party could be in charge of Singapore and that party could be the mainstream party. If that is so, and if the PAP is unable to get back into Parliament, it will accept the offer of non-constituency MPs.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, am I to understand the First Deputy Prime Minister comes to this House, gives an answer on an assumption which he has got no concrete statistics? He just says, "Everybody knows". Is that the position?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, the evidence was there in the last elections.

Mr Chiam See Tong: No. With due respect, Mr Speaker, I disagree. You will remember that in the last elections there was a swing of about 12.3% of the votes going towards the Opposition. And if this swing continues, and with another 15% more, you will be sitting on this side of the House. Therefore, my question is ---

Mr Speaker: Mr Chiam, is this your way of putting a supplementary question?

Mr Chiam See Tong: My question is, does the First Deputy Prime Minister not agree that that is not a good basis of making his statement today - that the PAP is to be in charge after the next elections and that the people want the Opposition only to be represented? Certainly that is not a good basis. Unless we have got concrete statistics all given out, then I would sit down quietly and listen to you.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, very quickly, the test will be obvious and the results will also be obvious in the next elections.

Dr Augustine H.H. Tan (Whampoa): Mr Speaker, Sir, can we continue to assume that the people of Singapore still want Opposition MPs in this Chamber after the very dismal performance of the ---

Mr Chiam See Tong: I object to that. I will ask the Member for Whampoa to retract that statement. He has never learnt his lesson. He has paid me damages once. If he dares, will he please repeat this outside this House?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I was not sure whether the Member for Whampoa was referring to the Member for Potong Pasir.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Who else? I am the only Opposition MP here.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: There was more than one MP in Parliament. But seriously, Sir, my own sense is that some Singaporeans want to have an Opposition in Parliament. I may be wrong. The Member for Whampoa may be right that my assumption was wrong.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, if the First Deputy Prime Minister agrees with the Member for Whampoa, I will ask him one question. Why did he take out his candidate away from Potong Pasir and put somebody else?

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, the PAP has a large number of candidates and we have a choice as to who we want to field in Potong Pasir. And he knows who we are going to field in Potong Pasir.