Channel NewsAsia: Elections Dept asks WP to name NCMP from its Aljunied team

SINGAPORE VOTES 2006

By Dominique Loh

The Elections Department confirms it has asked the Workers' Party to name a member of its Aljunied GRC team to be declared as a Non-Constituency MP.

Either Goh Meng Seng, James Gomez, Sylvia Lim, Mohd Rahizan Yaacob or Tan Wui-Hua could be named as the next NCMP.

The party members are to meet on Tuesday night at their headquarters to make that decision.

The Parliamentary Elections Act allows a maximum of 3 NCMPs to be declared, minus the number of opposition MPs voted in.

Choosing the NCMP is determined by the highest percentage of votes garnered by a candidate among the opposition parties in descending order.

Since two opposition MPs were voted into Parliament after this year's election, the Act allows for another opposition MP to be inducted into Parliament as a NCMP.

The Workers' Party have until 15 May to make their decision and inform the Returning Officer. - CNA/ir

TODAY: NCMP seat to go to WP?

THE Elections Department said yesterday it has offered the role of Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) to the best performing loser in this General Election but did not reveal to whom it was offered.

The offer will most likely go to the Workers' Party (WP), whose team in Aljunied GRC obtained 43.92 per cent of votes. The party can choose one from among its five-member team to take up the NCMP seat.

If the WP rejects the seat, the Elections Department will then offer it to the second top loser, the Singapore Democratic Alliance's Steve Chia. - CHANNEL NEWSASIA

TODAY: Gomez investigation continues

JASMINE YIN
jasmine.yin@newstoday.com.sg



THE police have confirmed that they are investigating Mr James Gomez (picture) from the Workers' Party (WP) for alleged offences of criminal intimidation and providing false information to the Elections Department.

Several persons, including Elections Department officials, Mr Gomez and WP chairman Sylvia Lim, have been interviewed, but "no arrest has been made and no persons detained in police custody", said the police in a media statement released yesterday.

"The police are in the process of reviewing the evidence and interviewing all relevant persons."

This probe follows a complaint lodged by the Elections Department against Mr Gomez on Polling Day last Saturday.

The 40-year-old researcher became embroiled in controversy during the nine days of hustings when the Elections Department disputed - using evidence such as security video footage and a transcript of a telephone conversation he had with a department official - his claim about having submitted his minority candidate certificate to the department.

Late on Sunday afternoon, Mr Gomez was stopped at the airport where he was planning to catch a flight to Sweden to resume work at Idea International - a job he had taken up just a few weeks ago. He was asked to assist in investigations pertaining to this complaint and acceded to that request.

Emerging from the Police Cantonment Complex just past midnight after some six hours of questioning, he told the waiting media that his passport had been seized and impounded indefinitely.

Mr Gomez was part of a WP team led by Ms Lim that challenged the People's Action Party (PAP) in Aljunied GRC.

The contest ended with the PAP team, which is fronted by Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo, winning 56.1 per cent of the votes.

Mr Gomez told TODAY he had not been called for further police questioning, but that he is "willing to cooperate with the investigations in any way possible".

When asked if he had been in contact with WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang and Ms Lim after he was released from questioning, Mr Gomez would only say: "I've been in touch with my party colleagues."

He said that the police had not reverted to him on his request for a letter that he could use to explain the situation to his employers at Stockholm-based think-tank Idea International, who are expecting him to report for work this week.

"I'll just wait, but I have informed them of the situation," he said.

While investigations are now underway, an online petition has been set up to protest against the probe on Mr Gomez.

Straits Times: WP offered NCMP seat, party to decide this week

TAKE IT OR NOT?: Ms Lim confirmed the Elections Department's offer was received yesterday.

THE Workers' Party (WP) has been offered the Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) seat in Parliament, because its Aljunied GRC team was the top scorer among defeated opposition candidates.

However, it has yet to decide if it would accept the offer from the Elections Department.

WP chairman Sylvia Lim told The Straits Times yesterday that a decision will be reached by this week. Ms Lim led the Aljunied team, which got 43.9 per cent of the valid votes cast in the GRC.

In the letter of offer issued to the WP yesterday, the Elections Department asked the party to propose who among the five Aljunied candidates would take up the NCMP post. It was given seven days to submit a name.

Under the NCMP scheme introduced in 1984, the highest-scoring opposition losers are admitted to Parliament if there are fewer than three elected opposition MPs.

An NCMP does not represent any constituency but can take part in all debates. However, such MPs cannot vote on major issues such as no-confidence motion, amendments to the Constitution, the Budget and other financial Bills.

If WP turns down the offer, the NCMP seat will be offered to the next best loser: Mr Steve Chia who received 39.6 per of the votes cast in single-seat Chua Chu Kang.

But the former NCMP said last night he would not take it up.

"Why should I?" said Mr Chia, who had announced that he was quitting politics after he lost in his third attempt at the polls.

He urged WP to accept the offer, as the chosen MP would gain from the higher public profile as well as the experience of debating in Parliament. He was an NCMP for the past five years.

But he cautioned: "It has been proven that the NCMP seat is not effective in winning elections."

However, Ms Lim, whom he expects to be the next NCMP, may fare better, he added.

SUE-ANN CHIA

Straits Times: Gomez saga: Police quiz WP chief

They wanted to know why Gomez applied for a minority certificate, says Low Thia Khiang

BY PEH SHING HUEI & KEN KWEK

POLICE officers yesterday interviewed Workers' Party secretary-general Low Thia Khiang at his Hougang office for more than three hours in connection with the James Gomez affair.

Two plain clothes officers who emerged from the Hougang Town Council office at 6.25pm told The Straits Times they were there to interview the Hougang MP-elect but did not provide other details.

Police said in a separate statement that they were investigating "a complaint from the Elections Department against Mr James Gomez for alleged offences of criminal intimidation and providing false information".

"Police have interviewed several persons, including Elections Department officials, Mr James Gomez and Ms Sylvia Lim," the statement said of the probe by the Criminal Investigation Department.

Mr Gomez has been at the centre of a controversy with the department over his non-submission of a minority candidate certificate.

Mr Low confirmed that police had a 3pm appointment with him to provide a statement as a witness in the case.

"They wanted to know what I told James as secretary-general of the party," he told The Straits Times.

"For instance, why he went to apply for a minority certificate. And also what I previously said to the press - that this was a mistake, that it was not something James purposely did, and it was not an intentional kind of thing."

He also told the officers that he had made it known previously that it has been standing practice in the party that non-Chinese candidates likely to be standing for election must apply for a minority certificate.

He told members "long ago" to do this, and he had also said the same thing before the 2001 General Election.

"There was also an election seminar which I held some time last year," he said, referring to an internal party event. "I told them, and James Gomez was present, that all of you (non-Chinese) should go and apply."

He said the complaint by the department against Mr Gomez was possibly for "criminal intimidation of a public servant".

Mr Gomez became a focal point of last week's election campaign, after claiming he submitted a minority candidate certificate to the department. When a security camera recording showed he did not hand in his form, he said he was "distracted" and apologised. But People's Action Party leaders said the apology was inadequate.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng issued an 11-page statement detailing how Mr Gomez "stage-managed" the incident to damage the Government and discredit the Elections Department.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew called Mr Gomez a liar and challenged him and the WP leadership to sue him if that was untrue.

Mr Gomez was stopped from leaving the country on Sunday afternoon and taken to the Police Cantonment Complex where he was questioned for nearly eight hours. He was heading back to Sweden to resume work at the Stockholm-based think-tank, International IDEA.

Yesterday, Mr Gomez appeared relaxed when he visited the Hougang Town Council office with Ms Lim, who is the WP chairman. He said he was taking things in stride and waiting for the next development. He is unable to travel as his passport has been impounded and has not been told when or whether police intend to interview him again.

Ms Lim, who led the WP's team which included Mr Gomez that contested Aljunied GRC, was also interviewed on Sunday for about three hours as a witness in the case.

Mr Low said he was not aware of any other WP members being called up by the police.

The police statement yesterday said that "no arrest has been made and no persons detained in police custody. The police are in the process of reviewing the evidence and interviewing all relevant persons".

shpeh@sph.com.sg

kenkwek@sph.com.sg