The court has set dates for a hearing on the constitutional challenge brought by Singapore citizen Daniel De Costa against the decision to call for an election under current circumstances.
M Ravi of Carson Law Chambers, who represents Mr De Costa, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday evening (24 June) that Justice Chua Lee Meng will be hearing the case on 2 and 3 July at 2.30pm.
Mr Ravi said, however, that he and his client have “written to the court to have the hearing to be scheduled before the Nomination Day on 30th June”.
If the hearing takes place after Nomination Day, the election cannot be called off, as the campaigning period has officially begun.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday night (23 June), Mr De Costa sought court declarations that “the right to vote and the right to free and fair elections are fundamental rights guaranteed to all citizens of Singapore under the Constitution”.
“I have just filed a constitutional challenge on behalf of Daniel De Costa that he be granted a Prohibitory Order enjoining the Returning Officer from proceeding with the holding of the general election as per section 24(3) of the Parliamentary Elections Act,” said Mr Ravi.
“The application is premised on the ground that the calling of the election is in breach of the right to free and fair elections under the current circumstances,” he added.
Mr Ravi’s application came after the announcement on the dissolution of the Parliament by President Halimah Yacob earlier yesterday at the request of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The dissolution of Parliament comes three months after the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) released its report on the modified electoral map on 13 March.
Mr De Costa, alongside TOC editor-in-chief Terry Xu, was charged with criminal defamation over an article alleging “corruption at the highest echelons” among members of the Singapore Cabinet.