SINGAPORE: Two independent candidates from May’s general election have set their sights on becoming Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs), who are meant to offer alternative voices in the House, CNA has learnt.
On Wednesday (Oct 29), the former Radin Mas candidate Darryl Lo told CNA that he has submitted the necessary documents for his nomination online, showing a copy of the confirmation email he received after he sent in his bid.
In response to queries, Mr Jeremy Tan, who contested the Mountbatten single member ward in the same election, also told CNA that he was intending to do the same ahead of the Nov 6 nomination deadline.
The duo gained prominence during the 2025 polls, with Mr Lo garnering 23.52 per cent of the votes in a three-way fight for Radin Mas. He emerged second, with the ruling People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Melvin Yong getting the most votes.
As for Mr Tan, he secured 36.18 per cent of the votes in a Mountbatten contest won by PAP new face Gho Sze Kee.
The nomination process for the NMP seats started on Oct 8. The applications will be submitted to the eight-member Special Select Committee chaired by Speaker Seah Kian Peng.
According to the parliament website, an NMP must be a Singapore citizen aged at least 21 on the day of nomination and currently registered in the Register of Electors. He or she must be a Singapore resident on the day of nomination and also for a total period of at least 10 years before that, and be sufficiently proficient in English, Malay, Mandarin or Tamil so as to participate in parliamentary proceedings.
There can be up to nine NMPs appointed to parliament.
While nominees can be proposed by the seven functional groups, such as the labour movement and social service organisations, a person not selected by any of them may be proposed by a member of the general public.
Each functional group can propose up to two persons for consideration.
