January 18, 06:18 PM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 Minister Grace Fu released a statement, covered by the mainstream media on Monday, pointing out that the Workers' Party (WP) will have to move a motion in Parliament if it wants to propose an alternative candidate for the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat declined by its Punggol East candidate Lee Li Lian.
In other words, WP has to take the initiative to start a debate in Parliament on filling up the WP NCMP seat. Otherwise, Parliament would probably leave the NCMP seat empty.
This is fine, except that WP has already filed the motion three days ago on Jan. 15.
They made this clarification their Facebook page, which can be read as a rebuttal to Minister Fu's comments:
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Posted by The Workers' Party on Sunday, January 17, 2016
In the statement, WP mentioned that the motion was filed by WP Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang, and seconded by five WP MPs.
WP proposed that sociology professor Daniel Goh, East Coast GRC candidate, take up the vacant seat offered to Lee.
So the question for the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, who is also the Leader of the House, is: Why release a statement to call WP to file a motion when WP has already done so?
Maybe she was trying to use the opportunity to criticise Lee's actions, based on what she wrote:
“Like many of her constituents, I learnt first from the media and later from her (Lee) absence from the opening of Parliament that she is not intending to assume the NCMP seat, despite having campaigned hard to persuade voters to elect her to a seat in Parliament...Taking up the NCMP seat would have enabled her to participate fully in parliamentary debates, raise motions, and ask questions in Parliament." Channel NewsAsia
Fu added that Lee's decision should not be taken 'lightly'. The Elections is serious stuff indeed. Would Lee have stayed on if she won in her ward? Or would she still give up her MP seat should she win, just as she is giving up her NCMP seat now.
Fu's statement indicated that she learnt from the media about Lee's intentions. But Lee told The Straits Times last week that she had written to Parliament officially about it.
A second question for the Leader of the House: If she was supposed to arrange Government business and the legislative programme of Parliament, why wasn't she aware that Lee has already written to Parliament? Or was the Parliament not supposed to share such correspondences with the government?
Top photo from Grace Fu Facebook.
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