vacant seats, vanished wards & the mystery of the missing elections

7/29/2019 VACANT SEATS, VANISHED WARDS & THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING ELECTIONS

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VA CAN T SEATS, VAN ISHED W ARDS

& THE M YSTERY OF THE M ISSIN G ELECTIO N S

-By Jea nnet te Chong-A ruldoss

Since gaining independence in 1965, Singapore has held a total of 11 Parliamentary By-

Electio ns (BEs). The Punggol East BE w oul d be t he 12t h.

The f i rst n ine of t he 11 BEs to ok p lace dur ing t he 16-year per iod fro m independen ce in 1965

to 1981. Aft er 1981, th ere w as only one BE in 1992 and no BEs for t he next 20 years, unt i l

2012 w hen t he Hougang BE w as held.

BE 1981 A W atershed

In 1981, M em ber of Par l iam ent (M P) for Anson, C. V. Devan

Nair becam e President and vacated t he seat. BE 1981 t urned

out t o be a w atershed. The PAP's candidat e lost to

opposit ion candidate, J . B. Jeyaretnam in a three-cornered

f igh t . Jeyare tnam becom e the f i rst oppos i t ion M P, end ing

th e PAP's th en 15-year m onop oly.

JBJ w on t he 19 81 A nson By-Election

Aft er th at, there w ere no BEs for 20 years even th ough th ere w ere several occasions wh en

seats w ere vacated by death, res ignat ion or d isqual i f icat io n.

Seat s Left Vacant

In December 1983, M P for Havelock, Hon Sui Sen, passed aw ay in of f ice. No BE w as held in

the w ard . H is sea t w as le f t vacant fo r t he nex t 12 m onths t i l l Decem ber 1984 w hen Genera l

Elect io ns (GE) w ere held. In GE 1984, the Havelock seat w as erased fro m th e e lecto ra l m ap.

In Novem ber 1986, Jeyaretnam s seat in Anson w as vacated aft er he w as d isqual i f ied from

hold ing a seat in Par l iam ent . The fo l low ing mo nt h in December 1986 , th e Geylang West seat

became vacant af t er i ts M P, Teh Cheang Wan com m itt ed suic ide. No BE w as held for e i t her

of t hose tw o vacated seats t i l l the next GE, held in Sept em ber 1988. In GE 1988, the w ards

o f Anson and Gey lang W est w ere e rased f rom the e lec to ra l map.

For near ly t w o years, Singaporeans resid ing in Anson and Geylang W est h ad no M P of th eir

ow n w h i le Par l iament w as shor t o f t w o e lected M Ps. Before th ose tw o sea ts becom e vacant ,

Par l iament had 79 e lected M Ps. Did 77 elected M Ps do t he job as w el l as 79? Yet, for GE

1988, the num ber o f e lec ted M Ps was increased f rom 79 to 81 .

Incept ion o f GRCs

In 1988, Group Representat ion Const i tu encies (GRCs) were in t roduced. Und er th e new lyenacted laws appl icable to GRCs, i t prov ided that the government would be obl igated to


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VACAN T SEATS, VA N ISHED W ARDS & THE M YSTERY OF THE M ISSIN G ELECTION S

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Jean net te Chong-Ar u ld oss (20 Jan 2013)

hold a BE on ly if ALL t he M Ps in a GRC vacated t heir seats. 1 There w ou ld be no o b l iga t ion to

hold a BE if one GRC seat w as vacat ed. The effect of t his is t hat all GRC seats are virt ually

guaranteed to remain in p lace and GRC terr i tory would not be up for grabs despite any

vacancy, unt i l t he next GE.

Since GRCs were in tr oduced, m ore and m ore are as became GRCs and th e num ber of Single

M em ber Constit uencies (SM Cs) drastically shran k over successive GEs. For GE 1988, t here

w ere 42 SM Cs. For GE 1991 , t he num ber o f SM Cs shrank to 21. For GE 1997, GE 2001 and

GE 2006, the nu m ber o f SM Cs w ere 9. For GE 2011 i t w as sl ight ly increased t o 12.

BE 1992 in M arine Parade GRC

The 10th BE w as held in M arine Parade GRC in Decem ber 199 2. This BE w as called by Prim e

M inister Goh Chok Tong w ho w anted t o br ing new blood in t o th e PAPs ranks and a lso

secure a str onger m andate aft er PAP lost an unp recedented fou r seats at GE 1991.

On t h is occasion, t he ent ire group of PAP M Ps at M arine Parade GRC resigned, paving the

w ay for a BE. This w as th e f i rs t and on ly t im e in Singapore 's pol i t ica l h isto ry t hat a BE for a

GRC w as held. PAP won back M arine Parade GRC in a fou r-cornered cont est.

2 GRC seats vacant t ill GE 199 7

On 5 Augu st 1993, M P fo r Eun os GRC, Dr Tay Eng Soon passed aw ay. Also in August 1993 ,

M P for Toa Payoh GRC, Ong Teng Cheong resigned f rom PAP t o ru n as Singapor e's f irst

e lected President . Those being GRC seats, th e PAP governm ent w as not obl igated by t helaw t o ho ld any BE and d id not do so. Those tw o GRC seats remained vacant for t he next 3

years and 5 m ont hs unt i l GE 1997. In GE 1997, Eunos GRC and Toa Payoh GRC, wh ich stoo d

for a lm ost a decade since 1988, d isappeared fro m th e e lecto ra l m ap.

For GE 1991, th e num ber of e lected seats w as 81. W hen t hose tw o GRC seats were vacated

in 199 3 by Dr Tay Eng Soo ns passing and On g Ten g Cheo ngs resignatio n, Parliam ent carried

on w ith less th an i ts fu l l cohort of e lected M Ps t i l l i t w as d issolved by GE 1997.

So i f 79 M Ps could do t he job as w el l as 81, d id w e need 81 M Ps? Yet, the t ot a l num ber of

elected seat s w as increased to 83 in GE 1997.

GRC seat vacan t t ill GE 200 1

In December 1999, M P for Ja lan Besar GRC, Choo W ee Khiang res igned f rom his M P posit ion

and PAP membership before p leading gui l ty to cheat ing charges in court . With Choo's

resignation , then Act ing Prime M inister Lee Hsien Loon g said th e ot her Jalan Besar GRC M Ps

w ould cont inu e to serve th e const i tu ent s. The GRC seat w as le f t vacant for t he next 1 year

10 m ont hs t i l l the nex t GE he ld in October 2001.

1Section 24(2A), Parl iam ent ary Electio ns Act, Cap. 218


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Two GRC seats vacant t i l l GE 2011

In July 2008 , M P for Jur ong GRC, Dr On g Chit Chu ng passed aw ay. His seat w as left vacant

fo r 2 years 10 mo nths t i l l the nex t GE he ld in M ay 2011. On 27 Septem ber 2010, M P fo r Ang

M o Kio GRC, Dr S. Balaji passed aw ay. His seat w as left v acant f or 7 m ont hs ti l l GE 2011. Asthose sea ts w ere no t f i l led , the t o ta l num ber o f e lec ted M Ps in Par l iament d ropped f rom 84

to 82 . I t seem ed 82 M Ps cou ld do t he job as w e l l as 84 . How ever fo r GE 2011, the num ber

of e lected seats increased t o 87.

BE 2012 in Hougang

On 15 February 2012, W orkers Part y M P for Hou gang, Yaw Shing Leong w as expel led from

his pol i t ica l part y , w hich le f t h is seat vacant. The next day, the Pr im e M in ister t o ld th e press

tha t t here was no f ixed t im e w i th in w h ich he m ust ca ll fo r a by-e lect ion . 2 Concerned abo ut

the p rospect o f hav ing no M P inde f in i te ly , Hougang const i tuen t M dm Ve llam a d / o M a r i eM u t h u app l ied to Cour t on 2 M arch 2012 to chal lenge the government s posi t ion tha t the

t im ing o f the BE a t th e Pr im e M in iste r s d isc re t ion . On 9 M ay 2012, the Pr im e M in iste r

cal led for a BE in Hougang, th e f i rs t in 20 years. In a one-on-one stra ight f ight w ith t he PAP,

th e Wo rkers Party w on back th eir Hougang seat.

Pr im e M in ister s Discret ion

For GRCs, stat ut e provides that th e governm ent has no o bl igat io n t o cal l for a BE i f a GRC

seat is vacated . Even so, academ ics have w eighed in t o say th at a str ong m oral and

pol i t ica l case - on t he pr in c ip le of representat ive dem ocracy - can be m ade for hold ing a BEin a GRC when one member has vacated h is seat. 3 W hat if i t w as the m ino r i t y M P w ho

vacated h is GRC seat? W hat i f t he GRC loses not one but tw o of i ts M Ps? So i t m ay not be a l l

th at certa in t he governm ent does not have to cal l for a BE i f a GRC seat is vacated.

As for SM Cs, th e PAP governm ent has m ade c lear their p osit io n t hat The t im ing o f the by-

e lec t ion is at the d isc re t ion o f the Pr im e M in iste r . The Pr ime M in iste r is no t ob l iged t o ca ll a

by-e lec t ion wi th in any f ixed t ime f rame. 4 M dm Ve llam as chal lenge is current ly being

heard by the Cour t o f Appea l5.

On a l l those occasions wh en th e Pr im e M in ister e xerc ised h is d iscret io n and decided not t ohold any BE to f i l l th e vacant seat, d id the Pr im e M in ister exerc ise h is d iscret ion in t he

in te rest o f t he e lec to ra te , o r o t herw ise? W hat about the cons t i tuen ts dem ocrat ic r igh t t o

be represented in par l iam ent by o ne w hom they h ave elected?

2 ht tp :/ / w w w .cha nneln ew sasia.com / stori es/sing ap orelo calnew s/ view / 118 321 1/ 1/ .ht m l3 By-Elect ion The Str aits Tim es, 1 August 2008 see l ink at

ht tp :/ / new shub .nus.edu.sg/ new s/ 0808 / PDF/ BY-st-1Aug -p32 .pdf4 Prim e M inister Lee Hsien Loong's reply in Parl iament on cal l ing a by-elect ion in Hou gang SM C (9

M arch 2012) see l ink atht tp : / / w w w .pm o.gov.sg/ cont ent/ pm osite/ m ediacentre/ speechesnint erview s/pr im em inister/ 2012/ M

arch/ t ranscr ipt_of_pr im eminis terleehs ienloongsoralansw er inpar l iam ento.htm l 5 Vel lama d / o M ar ie M uthu v At to rn ey Genera l (Civ i l Appea l No. 97 o f 2012)


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In her ar t ic le , " Snap polls a sign of chang e in PAP's app roa ch?"publ ished in th e Str a i ts Tim es

on 10 January 2013, opin ion edit or M s Chua M ui Hoong said th at PAP has a " t rack record of

not hold ing by-e lect ions, unless it w as for i ts ow n p lanned succession" .

I f M s Chua M ui Hoong is r igh t , then a l l those t imes w hen t he PAP government decided no t

t o ho ld any BE t o f i l l vacant seat s, t hose decisions w ere self-serving.

Reference: ht t p:/ / w w w .sing ap or e-electio ns.com /

I posted this art icle on m y Blog:www. je a nne t te .s g on 20 January 20 13

vacant seats, vanished wards & the mystery of the missing elections

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