On 6 February 1819, Sultan Hussein Shah and the Temenggung of Johor, Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah, entered into an agreement with Sir Stamford Raffles for the British East India Company to establish a "factory" or trading post on the island of Singapore.

As there was a majority of official members in the council, the constitution was criticised for not allowing locals to play an effective role in public affairs.

[23] In the general election held that year, the Labour Front took a majority of the seats in the Assembly, and David Marshall became the first Chief Minister of Singapore.

This led to confrontation between Marshall, who saw himself as a prime minister governing the country, and the governor Sir John Fearns Nicoll, who felt that important decisions and policies should remain with himself and the officials.

Other constitutional arrangements were swiftly settled in 1958, and on 1 August the United Kingdom Parliament passed the State of Singapore Act 1958 (6 & 7 Eliz.

[27] During the 1959 general election, the People's Action Party (PAP) swept to power with 43 out of the 51 seats in the Assembly, and Lee Kuan Yew became the first prime minister of Singapore.

Notably, PAP internal rules stipulate that party MPs "should not use their political position to champion the interests of the companies or lobby the Government".

The seats were taken up by Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai of the Progress Singapore Party, who were part of the team that contested in West Coast GRC in the election and were the best performing opposition candidates that did not win in their constituency.

[67] The persons to be nominated must have rendered distinguished public service, or have brought honour to Singapore, or have distinguished themselves in the field of arts and letters, culture, the sciences, business, industry, the professions, social or community service or the labour movement; and in making any nomination, the special select committee must have regard to the need for NMPs to reflect as wide a range of independent and non-partisan views as possible.

On 10 November 1986, the MP for Anson, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam of the Workers' Party of Singapore, lost an appeal against a conviction for making a false statement in a declaration and was sentenced to one month's imprisonment and a fine of $5,000.

[90] On 9 December, the Speaker of Parliament made a statement in the House that Jeyaretnam had ceased to be an MP with effect from 10 November by virtue of having been convicted of an offence and sentenced to a fine of not less than $2,000.

Jeyaretnam subsequently applied to court for a declaration that, among other things, he had not ceased to be an MP in 1986 and that the Speaker's statement had been ineffective because Parliament itself had not determined that he had vacated his seat.

A gross domestic product (GDP) bonus payable to civil servants was also extended to MPs to link their annual remuneration to the state of the economy.

[116] Singapore presently does not have a shadow cabinet in Parliament as the People's Action Party (PAP) has held an overwhelming majority of the seats in the House since it came to power in 1959.

He likened the situation to that in the Legislative Assembly of Singapore in 1955 when the PAP won three out of four contested seats, and Lee Kuan Yew was de facto Leader of the Opposition.

The prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, referred to Low, who is the WP's secretary-general, as Leader of the Opposition during a debate in the House on 13 November 2006.

Goh, who had become prime minister in 1990, said in a post-election press conference that GPCs would be abolished as the increased number of Opposition MPs meant they were no longer needed.

As Singapore is an independent and sovereign republic, Parliament has plenary power to pass laws regulating the rights and liabilities of persons in the country and elsewhere.

[155] The president exercises this constitutional function in accordance with Cabinet's advice and does not act in his personal discretion;[176] thus, except in certain instances described below, he may not refuse to assent to bills that have been validly passed by Parliament.

[199] In this way, Parliament exerts a degree of financial control over the Government as the latter's budget must be approved each year following a debate in the House.

During the debates, MPs are entitled to question Ministers on their ministries' policies after giving notice of their intention to move amendments to reduce by token sums of S$100 the total amounts provisionally allocated to particular heads of expenditure.

[200] If the Government wishes to spend public money in addition to what was provided for in the budget, it must submit supplementary estimates to Parliament for approval.

MPs may put questions to Ministers relating to affairs within their official functions, or bills, motions or other public matters connected with the business of Parliament for which they are responsible.

[240] The front benches (those nearest the Table of the House) on the Speaker's right are occupied by Government Ministers, and those on the left by Opposition MPs or by backbenchers.

[242] Simultaneous oral interpretation of speeches in Malay, Mandarin and Tamil into English and vice versa is provided by the Parliament Secretariat's Language Service Department.

[263] An MP can ask for leave to move the adjournment of Parliament for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance.

[264] Key parliamentary proceedings such as the opening of Parliament and the annual budget statement are broadcast live on both free-to-air TV and online.

On 19 March and 30 July 1986 the Leader of the House objected in Parliament to Opposition MP J.B. Jeyaretnam's allegations that the executive had interfered with the judiciary.

The building was originally a private mansion designed in the Palladian style by George Drumgoole Coleman and completed in June 1827 for a merchant, John Argyle Maxwell.

However, as further extensions were not feasible without causing MPs discomfort and disrupting the chamber's configuration, plans were approved in 1992 for a new Parliament building to be constructed.