In the 1959 general elections, the People's Action Party swept to power with 43 out of the 51 seats in the Assembly, and Lee Kuan Yew became the first Prime Minister of Singapore. In 1963, Singapore gained independence from Britain through merger with Malaysia. In the federal legislature, Singapore was allocated 15 out of 127 seats. Under its new State Constitution, Singapore kept its own executive government and legislative assembly. However, with effect from 9 August 1965, Singapore left Malaysia and became a fully independent republic. On separation from Malaysia, the Singapore Government retained its legislative powers, and the Parliament of Malaysia gave up all power to make laws for Singapore. Similarly, the Republic of Singapore Independence Act 1965, passed on 22 December 1965 and made retrospective to 9 August, declared that the legislative powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Supreme Head of the Federation) and Parliament of Malaysia ceased and vested in the president and the Parliament of Singapore respectively. The Parliament of Singapore is unicameral – all Members of Parliament (MPs) make up a single chamber, and there is no senate or upper house. At present, the effect of the Constitution of Singapore and other legislation is that there can be a maximum of 99 MPs. Eighty-seven are elected by the people while up to nine Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) and up to nine Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) may be appointed, following changes to the Constitution enacted on 26 April 2010. After the 2011 general election, 87 MPs were elected and three NCMPs were appointed (or, in the terms of the Parliamentary Elections Act, declared elected) to Parliament. As of the 2020 general election, for the purpose of Parliamentary elections, Singapore was divided into 31 electoral divisions (also known as constituencies). The names and boundaries of the divisions are specified by the Prime Minister by notification in the "Government Gazette". 14 of these divisions are Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) and 17 are Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). GRCs were introduced in 1991 for the purpose of ensuring representation of the Malay, Indian and other minority communities in Parliament. In a GRC, all the candidates must either be members of the same political party or independent candidates standing as a group, and at least one of the candidates must be a person belonging to the Malay, Indian or some other minority community. The president, at Cabinet's direction, declares the electoral divisions that are to be GRCs; the number of candidates (not less than three but not more than six) to stand for Parliament in each GRC; and whether the minority candidates in each GRC are to be from the Malay, Indian, or other minority communities.