SDP will not contest in an Hougang
by-election
The Singapore
Democratic Party's primary concern is that the constituency of
Hougang remains in the hands of the opposition.
It must not be re-captured by the PAP.
This being the case, and if the circumstances
remain the way they are, the SDP will not contest in a by-election
in Hougang.
Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party
http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/5142-sdp-will-not-contest-in-an-hougang-by-election
Yaw's sacking 'a step backwards': RP
Feb 17, 2012
Reform Party secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam has issued a
statement on the Workers' Party's expulsion of Mr Yaw Shin
Leong.
Here is his statement in full:
We note the Prime Minister's comments yesterday that he will
consider carefully when to call a by-election for Hougang SMC and
that this is because, "….there
are many more important issues on the national agenda at the
moment."
Democracy is The
National Agenda and nothing can ever take precedence over
that.
The people of Singapore's democratic right to be represented in
Parliament by representatives of their choosing must always be the
overriding concern.
The people of Hougang are now without a representative. By
expelling their MP and sending in other representatives from the
party, the WP has taken democracy a step backwards.
For the Hougang voters to be served by MPs from a neighbouring
constituency for whom they did not vote is effectively abolishing
election in favour of selection.
It is no surprise that the PM should think this acceptable and be
in no hurry to rectify the situation but we do not believe that all
the blame can be laid upon Yaw Shin Leong.
MPs have marital breakdown and there are enough examples of
divorced and re-married MP's and Ministers in Parliament.
Yes, the WP and the leadership who chose and mentored Yaw Shin
Leong should have provided an account and also brought Yaw Shin
Leong to accountability rather than giving us silence by expelling
him.
However, the deprivation of an Opposition representative in
Parliament through the PM's delay in holding a by-election is an
even more egregious violation of the rights to representation of
the 40% of the Singapore electorate who voted for Opposition
candidates in the last GE.
In a democracy the decision upon whether to call
a by-election should not be the Prime Ministers'
prerogative.
Singapore is not the PM's personal fiefdom.
He does have the right to decide when and whether the voters of
Hougang should get to choose a new representative and when to call
general elections as well as by-elections.
But this right is one that was appropriated by amending the
constitution. And the government's ability to amend the
Constitution at will without consultation of the people is a result
of decades of unchallenged power.
The solution is greater Opposition representation in Parliament
not less.
The Reform Party calls upon the Prime Minister to
put democracy and the Nation first.
As a Nation we are advancing from a position where the
government has already been called to a majority on Nomination day
to one where almost every seat is hotly contested.
Singaporean voters are less afraid, less
apathetic, more sophisticated and less
isolated.
We must make sure that our processes and laws also keep up with
the times and entrench the protection of democracy as a system of
government.
In other advanced Nations, free and fair elections are upheld by
entrusting the conduct of elections to an independent body.
The independence of these election commissions, particularly in
commonwealth countries, is fiercely protected.
Originally Singapore's constitution, like the Westminster one on
which it is modelled, provided for a by-election to be held in a
reasonable time frame once a seat fell vacant.
However this was changed, presumably because the PAP feared that
they would be more likely to lose seats at by-elections than at
general elections and to keep certain members of the Opposition who
threatened them from getting back into Parliament.
In Westminster itself the incumbent Party (that would be the
Worker's Party here) has the right to move a writ to set in place a
motion for the by-election and to select the date.
The government and the Prime Minister have no rights to
interfere with that schedule. This gives the incumbent Party a
slight advantage but also puts the matter straight back into the
hands of the electorate. All sides consider this slight advantage
to be fair as there can be no doubt that the people have previously
voted for a Party as well as an individual.
The Reform Party calls for the government to remove
the constitutional amendment giving the government discretion to
keep seats vacant between general elections, to remove the PM's
discretion as to when a by-election must be called and above all to
move the Elections Department out of the Prime Minister's
Office.
We need to set up a totally independent Elections
Commission to safeguard free and fair elections if we are ever to
join the ranks of advanced
Nations.
The Reform Party similarly calls on the people of Singapore who
have clearly shown that they strive for democracy to keep up
pressure on the government and to prevent us losing the little
progress we have so far gained as a Democracy .
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120217-0000006/Yaws-sacking-a-step-backwards--RP
