Workers' Party (WP) central executive council member Daniel Goh has been declared the third Non-Constituency MP (NCMP) elected to Parliament by the Elections Department.
Dr Goh, 42, an associate professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore, was on the four-man WP slate that contested East Coast GRC in last September's General Election.
He fills the seat that was offered to, but turned down by, the WP's former Punggol East MP Lee Li Lian, who lost in September.
She was offered the NCMP seat as the losing opposition candidate with the highest vote share.
In a statement yesterday, the Elections Department said that after Parliament declared Ms Lee's NCMP seat vacant on Jan 29 and that it be filled, Returning Officer Ng Wai Choong wrote to the WP's East Coast GRC team on Tuesday.
He asked the team to decide who would take up the seat, and it decided on Dr Goh and replied to the Elections Department yesterday.
Last Friday , the WP moved a motion in Parliament for the NCMP seat to be declared vacant and to have it filled.
During a debate lasting nearly two hours, MPs from the People's Action Party (PAP) and WP locked horns over the principles of the NCMP scheme and the WP's motives in wanting to fill the seat despite its opposition to the scheme.
The motion, amended by the PAP and which in part referred to the WP's political manoeuvring to fill the seat, was passed by the House - although the WP abstained as it objected to the amendment.
Dr Goh will join two other NCMPs from the WP. They are consultancy firm chief executive Leon Perera, 45, who was in the WP's East Coast team; and shipping lawyer Dennis Tan, 45, who stood in single-seat Fengshan constituency.
In a post on his Facebook page yesterday, Dr Goh said it "is my privilege to be elected as NCMP and to serve my country in Parliament.
"I don't think I can sleep tonight; I know this is a grave responsibility and I will give it my best in the coming years."
Chong Zi Liang
