Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong continued to keep his cards close to
his chest on whether there will be a by-election in Punggol
East.
Speaking to Singapore reporters in New Delhi, he acknowledged that
there were expectations for one to be held in the seat, but said he
had not decided whether to hold one and if so, when it would take
place.
He noted that whenever a vacancy came up and
there was "no special reason" not to have a by-election, there
would be expectations for one. We will consider this, he
said.
The Punggol East seat was vacated last week after People's Action
Party MP Michael Palmer, who was also Speaker of Parliament,
resigned over an extramarital affair.
In the wake of his exit, Mr Lee had issued a statement saying he
would "carefully consider whether to call a by-election in Punggol
East and, if so, when."
He added then that there were several items on the national agenda,
including the Singapore Conversation, the White Paper on Population
and the 2013 budget - fuelling speculation that the earliest a
by-election could be held would be in the second quarter of next
year.
A brief history of by-elections:
By-elections have been held in 31
constituencies since self-governance in 1959.
Of these, the PAP lost three times: Hong Lim in
1961 and Anson in 1961 and 1981.
1960s
From 1959 to Independence in 1965, by-elections were nail-biting
fights which saw the People's Action Party (PAP) tussle with other
parties to hang on to its dominance in Parliament.
In April 1961, former national development minister Ong Eng Guan
ran as an independent in Hong Lim after being expelled from the
PAP. He won handsomely against the PAP's Jek Yeun Thong. Three
months later, the Workers' Party's (WP) David Marshall won Anson in
a by-election following the death of a PAP assemblyman.
In 1961, the PAP expelled 13 members who went on to form Barisan
Sosialis. A year later, labour minister Ahmad Ibrahim died,
vacating his Sembawang seat. The PAP was left with 25 seats against
25 opposition assemblymen. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew did not call
a by-election in Sembawang. Instead, he called a general election
one year later when the PAP regained its majority.
In June 1965, Mr Ong quit politics, paving the way for a
by-election in Hong Lim. That by-election took on national
significance in the wake of communal riots the year before. The
PAP's victory over Barisan was seen as a mark of the people's
support for the party.
After separation, Mr Lee moved a motion to revoke a clause in the
Constitution which set a three-month deadline for by-elections to
be called.
1970s
The 1970s marked the start of a "safe
era" for the PAP. Against a backdrop of rapid economic
growth, the PAP
called several by-elections to swiftly inject talented new blood
into its ranks.
In 1970, 1977 and 1979, by-elections
were called in 14 seats after older MPs fell ill or resigned.
Several Cabinet heavyweights entered Parliament through
by-elections, including Dr Tony
Tan, Mr Howe Yoon Chong, Mr Teh Cheang Wan and Mr Lim Chee
Onn.
1980s
Circumstances changed after the PAP
lost the Anson by-election in 1981. That
election was called less than 24 hours after Anson MP Devan Nair
resigned from the PAP in anticipation of becoming
President.
In a shock defeat, the PAP's Pang Kim Hin lost to WP chief J.B.
Jeyaretnam. Mr Lee later recounted in his memoirs that he had left
the Anson campaign to then Minister for Trade and Industry Goh Chok
Tong and other younger leaders.
"I was disturbed, not by the defeat, but because
I had no signal from Goh that we might lose," Mr Lee wrote in his
memoirs.
There were
no by-elections for the rest of the decade, even
when three single-member constituencies were
vacated.
These were when Havelock MP Hon Sui Sen died in 1983, and when Mr
Jeyaretnam was disqualified from Parliament and Mr Teh Cheang Wan
committed suicide, both in 1986.
1990s
All vacated seats since 1990 have been in group representation
constituencies (GRCs), a system introduced in 1988.
The Government's position is that when a GRC seat falls vacant,
other MPs in the GRC can help to look after affected
constituents.
That was the case on five occasions when GRC seats were vacated in
1993, 1999, 2008 and 2010.
In 1992, however, then Prime Minister Goh Chok
Tong called a by-election in his Marine Parade GRC to induct
Rear-Admiral Teo Chee Hean into
politics.
At the time, both deputy prime
ministers had cancer and there was an acute need for new
leaders.
2000s
The Hougang by-election in 2012
marked the first time in 31 years that a by-election was held in a
single-member constituency, and the first time since Independence
that a by-election was called in an opposition ward. PM Lee
declared his intention to call a by-election a few weeks after the
Hougang seat was vacated. The
by-election ultimately took place some three months
later.
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