Singapore Democratic Party sends letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to seek his position on whether would there be a by-election held in view of Mdm Halimah Yacob’s resignation from Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency.
Mdm Halimah Yacob had earlier submitted her resignation as Member of Parliament and Speaker of Parliament on Monday to stand as a candidate for the upcoming Presidential Election.
The letter which is penned by Dr Chee Soon Juan asked for a reply from the PM by 16 August on the matter, and if there is no reply, the party will take that there is no intention of carrying out a by-election and will therefore proceed to take steps to rectify the situation.
Given that Mdm Halimah is the minority candidate of the GRC team, the GRC will be left without an elected minority Member of Parliament after Mdm Halimah’s resignation.
It has since been announced that Mr Zaqy Mohamad will take over as adviser to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC Grassroots Organisation in light of Mdm Halimah’s departure.
However, residents at Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC such as Abdul Salim Harun are not pleased with the arrangement.
Salim wrote on his Facebook page,
“The question that needs to be asked now is that, do the voters and residents here voted for her or the advisor? So how legitimate will the position of the Advisor be? And for sure, the voters here did not ask to be short change with having MPs from other divisions having to be rotated among themselves to look after Marsiling division. We voted for 4, and not 3 MPs to serve in the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.
To be fair to the residents and voters here, a By-Election needs to be called as she is the only Minority MP in this GRC. We, the residents and voters under Marsiling Division deserve to have our own MP and not those on loan from other division.”
Salim is also carrying out a petition signing campaign at the GRC this coming Saturday (12 Aug) to collect signatures to be submitted to Parliament for the purpose of compelling a by-election at the ward.
Below is the letter by SDP in full.
Letter to PM: By-election in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC
Mr Lee Hsien Loong
Prime Minister
Republic of Singapore
via email: [email protected]Dear Prime Minister Lee,
By-election in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC
Ms Halimah Yacob has resigned as the Member of Parliament (MP) from the Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC) to stand as a candidate for the Elected Presidency. As such, in accordance with our constitution, a by-election must be held in the GRC.
However, Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said in Parliament on 6 February 2017, that there will be no by-election even if Ms Halimah resigns as MP.
As Prime Minister, we wish to hear from you if Mr Chan’s statement is indeed your own position. Please let me have your reply on this matter by the close of the business day on 16 August 2017, Wednesday, failing which we will take it that you will not be calling for a by-election in the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC. In that event, we shall proceed to take the necessary steps to rectify the situation.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Chee Soon Juan
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party
