Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment No. 2) Bill

Bill No. 24/1987

Read the first time on 30th November 1987.

An Act to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore.

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment No. 2) Act 1987 and shall come into operation on such date as the President may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of Article 2

2. Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (referred to in this Act as the Constitution) is amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “the Deputy Speaker” in the definition of “Deputy Speaker” in clause (1) and substituting the words “a Deputy Speaker”; and
(b)	by deleting the words “the Deputy Speaker” in the last line of the proviso to clause (4) and substituting the words “a Deputy Speaker”.

Amendment of Article 39

3. Article 39 of the Constitution is amended —

(a)	by deleting the words “equal to the number of” in clause (1)(a) and substituting the words “required to be returned at a general election by the”; and
(b)	by deleting the words “Article 47” in clause (3) and substituting the words “Articles 39A and 47”.

New Article 39A

4. The Constitution is amended by inserting, immediately after Article 39, the following Article:

“Group representation constituencies

39A.—(1) The Legislature may, in order to ensure the representation in Parliament of Members from the Malay and other minority communities, by law make provision for —

(a)	any constituency to be declared by the President, having regard to the number of electors in that constituency, as a group representation constituency to enable any election in that constituency to be held on a basis of a group of 3 candidates; and
(b)	the qualifications, in addition to those in Article 44, of persons who may be eligible for any election in group representation constituencies, including the requirements referred to in clause (2).

(2) Any law made pursuant to clause (1) shall provide for —

(a)

the President to designate every group representation constituency —

(i)	as a constituency where at least one of the 3 candidates in every group shall be a person belonging to the Malay community; or
(ii)	as a constituency where at least one of the 3 candidates in every group shall be a person belonging to any minority community other than the Malay community;

(b)

the establishment of —

(i)	a committee to determine whether a person desiring to be a candidate belongs to the Malay community; and
(ii)	a committee to determine whether a person desiring to be a candidate belongs to any minority community other than the Malay community,

for the purpose of any election in group representation constituencies; and

(c)

all the candidates in every group to be either members of the same political party standing for election for that political party or independent candidates standing as a group.

(3) No provision of any law made pursuant to this Article shall be invalid on the ground of inconsistency with Article 12 or be considered to be a differentiating measure under Article 78.

(4) In this Article —

“election” means an election for the purpose of electing a Member of Parliament;

“group” means a group of 3 candidates nominated for any election in any group representation constituency;

“person belonging to the Malay community” means any person, being a Malay, Javanese, Boyanese, Bugis, Arab or any other person, who is generally accepted as a member of the Malay community by that community.”.

Amendment of Article 42

5. Article 42 of the Constitution is amended —

(a)

by deleting clause (1) and substituting the following clause:

“(1) Parliament shall from time to time elect two Deputy Speakers; and whenever the office of a Deputy Speaker is vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament, Parliament shall, as soon as convenient, elect a person to that office.”;

(b)

by deleting the words “The Deputy Speaker” in clauses (2)(a), (2)(c) and (3) and substituting in each case the words “A Deputy Speaker”; and

(c)

by deleting the words “the Deputy Speaker” in clause (2)(b) and substituting the words “a Deputy Speaker”.

Amendment of Article 43

6. Article 43 of the Constitution is amended by deleting the words “the Deputy Speaker” in the fifth line and substituting the words “a Deputy Speaker”.

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