Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected at least every five years (or sooner in the case of a snap election). The current Parliament has 100 members; 88 were directly elected from the 29 constituencies, nine are nonpartisan nominated members appointed by the president, and three are non-constituency members from opposition parties who were not elected in the last general election but appointed to the legislature to increase opposition party representation. In group representation constituencies (GRCs), political parties assemble teams of candidates (rather than nominate individuals) to contest elections. At least one MP in a GRC must be of an ethnic minority background. All elections are held using first-past-the-post voting. The People's Action Party (PAP) occupies a dominant position in Singaporean politics, having won large parliamentary majorities in every election since self-governance was granted in 1959. Even its candidates who lose elections are often turned to by constituency residents for assistance. The most effective opposition party is the Workers' Party.