Apex court hears bid for by-election to be called in Marsiling-Yew Tee

A legal challenge for a by-election to be called in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC was heard by the Court of Appeal yesterday.

The appeal, filed by Singapore Democratic Party member Wong Souk Yee, a resident in the GRC, comes after the High Court dismissed the application last April.

She is contending the GRC seat vacated by President Halimah Yacob - who resigned in August 2017 to run in the presidential elections - must be filled under law. To do this, the remaining three MPs in the GRC should resign and a by-election be called.

In submissions to the apex court, lawyers from the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said Dr Wong's interpretation of Article 49 (1) of the Constitution "violates" its plain language.

Article 49 (1) states when the seat of a member has become vacant for any reason other than a dissolution of Parliament, the vacancy shall be filled by election. The AGC team, led by Deputy Attorney-General Hri Kumar Nair, said the Article provides for an election for the vacant seat only.

"It does not contain an obligation to call an election for all the seats in a GRC when a single seat falls vacant," they noted. There is also nothing in the "plain words" of the Article that obliges the remaining GRC members to vacate their seats so a by-election can be called, the AGC said.

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Dr Wong's lawyer, Mr Peter Low, argued that Article 49 (1) does not distinguish between seats in a GRC or a single-member constituency, and requires a vacant seat in a GRC to be filled.

Citing Article 39A of the Constitution, Mr Low said the law also requires that a GRC contains a member from a minority community until the dissolution of Parliament.

AGC's lawyers said Article 39A only requires the GRC team have a minority member at the point of elections. They pointed to Section 24 (2A) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, which states in the case of a GRC, no writ shall be issued for an election to fill any vacancy, "unless all the members for that constituency have vacated their seats".

Referring to a 1988 Parliamentary debate on the GRC system, the AGC said this provision was to guard against one MP holding the other members to ransom with a threat of resignation.

The case was heard by a five-judge panel.