The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) has chosen assistant secretary-general Leong Mun Wai, 60, and vice-chairman Hazel Poa, 49, to fill the two Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) positions it secured at the general election.
Party chief Tan Cheng Bock, 80, announced the choice of the two NCMPs at a press conference yesterday, in what is a likely signal of who the party has chosen to lead its renewal.
Dr Tan, who has often spoken about the need for the party to go beyond him, previously ruled himself out of the seat, saying that he has been an MP before and would rather have his teammates gain some parliamentary experience.
Mr Leong and Ms Poa were on the party's West Coast GRC slate, which secured 48.31 per cent of the votes against the People's Action Party team led by Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran, emerging as the best losers in the July 10 polls.
Both NCMP nominees had said they had reservations about the scheme, but said yesterday that they understood the decision made by the party.
On the campaign trail a week earlier, Mr Leong said he would not be keen on taking up an NCMP position if he was offered it, adding: "If you use the NCMP (position), you are regarded as a loser MP, and you have no access to the people. The people are the ones we want to serve."
Addressing those remarks yesterday, Mr Leong said: "I had some personal objections to the scheme. Nevertheless, I'm humbled by the trust the party has placed in me to take up this NCMP (position). And very importantly, the party needs to... represent the 48.5 per cent of voters who voted for us, and also all the Singaporeans that cheered us in this election."
Ms Poa similarly said becoming NCMPs would help them represent the views of voters who supported them in the election.
"I feel that this is an opportunity for us to bring their voices into Parliament, so we will want to, over the next five years, continue to engage West Coast residents to find out (their views) in more detail, because we actually haven't had much time before this," she said.
Ahead of the press conference, the two - who apart from Dr Tan were the highest-ranking party members in the West Coast GRC team - were widely expected to be the ones nominated to take up the NCMP seats.
Dr Tan said the decision was made after an internal discussion by the West Coast GRC team, before being confirmed by the party's central executive committee.
"So amongst themselves, they think that they are the better (choices). They feel that they can perform better than the others," said Dr Tan, noting that he felt the other two members, Mr Jeffrey Khoo and Mr Nadarajah Loganathan, were also capable.
He said the considerations included how the candidates performed during the party's webinars and its outreach on the ground. He added that both of them are also bilingual, which helps the party take its message to those who do not speak English.
Ms Poa entered politics in 2010 with the Reform Party, and switched to the National Solidarity Party (NSP) ahead of the 2011 election where she was part of the team contesting in Chua Chu Kang GRC. She subsequently rose to become NSP chief but resigned before the 2015 election due to a disagreement. Ms Poa was a founding member of the PSP when it was set up last year.
Mr Leong, regarded as Dr Tan's right-hand man in the party, was a new face at this election. He had previously been managing director of OCBC Securities.
Both Mr Leong and Ms Poa are former government scholarship holders.
The NCMP scheme currently provides for at least 12 opposition Members of Parliament. With the Workers' Party (WP) having 10 elected MPs, the duo from PSP will be the only NCMPs in the next Parliament.
Dr Tan said the PSP NCMPs will support WP chief Pritam Singh who is also set to be appointed Leader of the Opposition, the first time such a position has been formalised.
"Our two friends here will also accept him as the leader, and we will go along with him," said Dr Tan.
He stressed, however, that the PSP will not be confrontational in its approach in Parliament.
"We want to be sure that the debate gets good results for Singapore, because it's this exchange of ideas that is going on in the House that will get a better outcome of whatever policies," he said.
Moving forward, Dr Tan said the party will continue reaching out to Singaporeans, such as starting branches in each of the wards in constituencies, so it can establish a presence and be prepared when the next election comes.
"Over the next five years, we are two-pronged. In Parliament, they will bring up issues that we find on the ground. And on the ground, myself and my whole team will be combing the ground. So we should be very ready in five years' time."
