View source for 2012 Hougang by-election

A [[by-election]] for the [[Hougang Single Member Constituency]] in [[Singapore]] was held on 26 May 2012 because of the expulsion of [[Yaw Shin Leong]] from the [[Workers' Party of Singapore]] on 15 February 2012, which he decided not to appeal. On 22 February 2012, the [[Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore|Speaker]] [[Michael Palmer (politician)|Michael Palmer]] declared the seat vacant, effective from the date of expulsion, as required by the [[Constitution of Singapore|Constitution of the Republic of Singapore]].

This was the 16th by-election since the first election, and the first by-election after over 19 years since [[1992 Marine Parade by-election|1992]]. This was the first by-election in Singapore since the new millennium and the 21st Century. Nomination day was held on 16 May 2012, while polling day was on 26 May 2012. 23,368 people were eligible to vote. WP's candidate [[Png Eng Huat]] was declare candidate-elect with 62.08% of valid votes cast.

==Background==

"The seat of a Member of Parliament shall become vacant —

if he ceases to be a member of, or is expelled or resigns from, the political party for which he stood in the election;"

[[Constitution of Singapore]], Article 46(2)(b)

"Whenever the seat of a Member, not being a non-constituency Member, has become vacant for any reason other than a dissolution of Parliament, the vacancy shall be filled by election in the manner provided by or under any law relating to Parliamentary elections for the time being in force."

[[Constitution of Singapore]], Article 49

This by-election was the result of the expulsion of [[Yaw Shin Leong]], Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Hougang Single Member Constituency]], from the [[Workers' Party of Singapore]] (WP). This caused Yaw to lose his responsibility as the WP treasurer.{{sfn|Ng|2012}}{{sfn|Musfirah|2012}} Under Article 46(2)(b) of the [[Constitution of Singapore|Constitution of the Republic of Singapore]], an MP's Parliamentary seat falls vacant if the MP is expelled from the party under whose banner he or she stood for election.{{sfn|CNA|20120217}}{{sfn|Lee|2012}} The last MP to have been expelled from his party was [[Chiam See Tong]], who was ousted from the [[Singapore Democratic Party]] in 1993{{sfn|CNA|20120217}} (but reinstated in December the same year after a ruling by the [[High Court of Singapore|High Court]]{{sfn|Leifer|1995|p=150}}{{sfn|Tan|1999|p=115}}).

At a media conference on 15 February 2012, the Workers' Party announced the expulsion of Yaw. According to the party chairman [[Sylvia Lim]], she said that Yaw has been accused of several indiscretions in his private life while being asked many times to come forward and explain himself to the party but he did not do so, resulting in him committing a party misconduct and lost faith, trust and expectations of the party and the residents of the Hougang SMC. The announcement came after weeks of speculation and rumours that Yaw had an alleged extramarital affair with a fellow party member.{{sfn|Saad|Chan|See|2012}} Within 30 minutes of 20:37, news reports detailed the mixed reactions among Hougang residents to Yaw Shin Leong's expulsion,{{sfn|Mohandas|Hoe|2012}} [[Prime Minister of Singapore|Prime Minister]] [[Lee Hsien Loong]]'s comment that there is no fixed time within which a by-election must be called,{{sfn|Chan|2012}} and [[People's Action Party]] Chairman [[Khaw Boon Wan]]'s quote that Hougang voters have been misled by the WP.{{sfn|Chan|2012}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Workers' Party expels Yaw Shin Leong|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1183169/1/.html|archive-url=https://archive.is/20120722190958/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1183169/1/.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 July 2012|newspaper=Channel NewsAsia|date=15 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/pdf/20120215/WP_statement.pdf|title=Expulsion of Yaw Shin Leong from Party Membership|publisher=[[The Straits Times]]|access-date=21 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227054918/http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/pdf/20120215/WP_statement.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2012}}</ref>

{{quote box|align=right|width=20%|quote=Whenever the seat of a Member, not being a non-constituency Member, has become vacant for any reason other than a dissolution of Parliament, the vacancy shall be filled by election in the manner provided by or under any law relating to Parliamentary elections for the time being in force.|source=Constitution of Singapore, Article 49{{sfn|CONSTITUTION|1999}}}}

On 17 February 2012, the Clerk of the Parliament gave Yaw ten days to reply to the expulsion,{{sfn|CNA|20120217}} but two days later, he wrote a letter that he chose not to appeal against the party's decision; the [[Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore|Speaker]] [[Michael Palmer (politician)|Michael Palmer]], then announced the vacancy of the seat as of the date of the expulsion.{{sfn|Saad|2012}}{{sfn|Ong|2012a}}

In the days following the announcement, a war of words ensued between [[Aljunied GRC]] MP [[Low Thia Khiang]], former MP [[Ho Kah Leong]] and government press secretary Foo Kok Jwee in the letters columns of the ''[[Lianhe Zaobao]]'' and ''[[The Straits Times]]'' over the degree to which the situation compared to the [[Singaporean by-election, 1992|last by-election in 1992]] and whether or not the expulsion of Yaw was an "abuse of the democratic system" to save the party's integrity.{{sfn|Ong|2012b}}

Commentator [[Eugene Tan]], assistant professor of law at the [[Singapore Management University]] School of Law, discussed how the Parliamentary Elections Act applied to the situation. Tan stated that although it was the President who issued the writ for election, it was the Prime Minister who advised on the matter, and that it was thus Lee who effectively controlled the election date. Tan argued that although the Constitution did not impose a timeframe within which a by-election had to be held, it was not the intent that this should allow elections to be postponed indefinitely. The fact that the Constitution is silent on exactly when by-elections should be called should not be taken as permission not to call them at all. "In short," he wrote, "the 'default' position should be that a by-election should be automatic, although there is no hard and fast rule on the timing."{{sfn|Tan|2012}} Tan also opined that the Workers' Party should field as its candidate in the by-election someone not already in Parliament, rather than a Non-constituency MP.{{sfn|Tan|2012}} [[Chee Soon Juan]], Secretary-General of the [[Singapore Democratic Party]], stated that it was his party's "primary concern that Hougang remains in the hands of the opposition", declaring that it would therefore not field a candidate that would split the vote.{{sfn|Chan|2012}}

Other WP MPs had been covering Yaw's former duties in Hougang SMC.{{sfn|Saad|Chan|See|2012}} Mr Tan argued that this state of affairs should not continue for the projected remaining term of the current Parliament of four and a half years. "&#91;...&#93; the cardinal principle of representation is crucial: A stand-in MP is not the same as an MP for whom the majority had voted. Not calling a by-election would undermine the importance of representation in our maturing parliamentary democracy", he wrote.{{sfn|Tan|2012}}

===Confirmation of by-election===

On 9 May 2012, [[President of Singapore|President]] [[Tony Tan Keng Yam]] issued a writ of election{{sfn|Elections Department|2012}} for the electoral division of Hougang. Nominations were held on 16 May at [[Serangoon Junior College]] and polls are conducted on 26 May.

==Candidates==

On 10 May 2012, the PAP announced in a press conference that [[Desmond Choo]] would be their candidate. This is the second time Choo is contesting in the Hougang ward.{{sfn|The Straits Times|2012}} Later, at about 4 pm, the WP announced in a press conference that [[Png Eng Huat]] would be the candidate; Png previously contested for the [[East Coast Group Representation Constituency]] in the 2011 general elections.<ref>http://sg.news.yahoo.com/workers--party-fields-png-eng-huat-as-hougang-by-election-candidate.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512015915/http://sg.news.yahoo.com/workers--party-fields-png-eng-huat-as-hougang-by-election-candidate.html |date=12 May 2012 }}.</ref>

Two other potential candidates had originally also signalled their intent to run, having collected their political donation certificates, a prerequisite for contesting. They were Poh Lee Guan, a WP member who eventually dropped out by not submitting his nomination papers; and [[Zeng Guoyan]], an independent candidate who filed his nomination papers but was disqualified for having a public offence on police record.<ref>http://sg.news.yahoo.com/houngang-by-election--nomination-day-live-blog-coverage.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519055029/http://sg.news.yahoo.com/houngang-by-election--nomination-day-live-blog-coverage.html |date=19 May 2012 }}.</ref> In July 2012, Poh was expelled by WP for his actions, as he had not consulted the party council prior to collecting the certificates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_823686.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=18 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719091203/http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_823686.html |archive-date=19 July 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1214332/1/.html|archive-url=https://archive.is/20130119045302/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1214332/1/.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-01-19|title=Channel NewsAsia|work=Channel NewsAsia}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!style="background:RoyalBlue; color: white;"| Candidates

!style="background:RoyalBlue; color: white;"| Background

|-

| [[Png Eng Huat]]

|  A member of the [[Workers' Party (Singapore)| Worker's Party]]. At the [[2011 Singaporean general election|2011 general election]], he stood as a candidate in the [[East Coast Group Representation Constituency]]. The [[Workers' Party (Singapore)| Worker's Party]] was defeated by the team from the governing [[People's Action Party]].

|-

| [[Desmond Choo]]

| A member of the [[People's Action Party]]. At the [[2011 general election]] in the single-member constituency of Hougang, where he was defeated by [[Yaw Shin Leong]] of the [[Workers' Party (Singapore)|Worker's Party]].

|}

==Results==

At 10.30pm (SGT), results were announced by [[Returning Officer]] [[Yam Ah Mee]] at [[Holy Innocents' High School]] where WP's Png retained Hougang SMC with 62.08% of the valid votes, beating PAP's Choo with 37.92%.

{{Election box begin|title=Hougang by-election 2012: Hougang}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party=Workers' Party of Singapore

|candidate=[[Png Eng Huat]]

|votes=13,460

|percentage=62.08

|change=-2.72

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link

|party=People's Action Party

|candidate=[[Desmond Choo]]

|votes=8,223

|percentage=37.92

|change=+2.72

}}

{{Election box margin of victory

|votes=5,237

|percentage=24.15

|change=-5.44

}}

{{Election box rejected

|votes=295

|percentage=1.34

|change=+0.21

}}

{{Election box turnout

|votes=21,978

|percentage=94.05

|change=-0.31

}}

{{Election box Registered electors

|reg. electors=23,368

|percentage=100.00

|change=-4.85

}}

{{Election box hold with party link

|winner=Workers' Party of Singapore

|swing=-2.72

}}

{{Election box end}}

==See also==

*[[Vellama d/o Marie Muthu v. Attorney-General]] - a 2013 court case relating to the by-election and [[Casual vacancy]]

==Footnotes==

{{reflist|20em}}

==References==

{{refbegin}}

* {{Cite journal|ref=CITEREFCONSTITUTION1999|year=1999|title=Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (1999 revised)|url=http://agcvldb4.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?actno=REVED-CONST|work=Singapore Statutes On-Line|publisher=Attorney-General's Chambers|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718085004/http://agcvldb4.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?actno=REVED-CONST|archive-date=18 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}

* {{cite news|date=22 February 2012|title=Yaw not appealing expulsion, Hougang seat declared vacant|first=Carine|last=Lee|url=http://businesstimes.com.sg/sub/latest/story/0,4574,478985,00.html|work=The Business Times}}{{Dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

* {{cite news|title=Yaw: I won't appeal expulsion|first=Rachel|last=Chan|date=23 February 2012|work=[[AsiaOne]]|url=http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120223-329591.html}}

* {{cite encyclopaedia|encyclopedia=Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia|article=Singapore Democratic Party|first=Michael|last=Leifer|publisher=Taylor &amp; Francis|year=1995|isbn=978-0-415-04219-2}}

* {{cite news|first1=Vimita|last1=Mohandas|first2=Yeen Nie|last2=Hoe|title=Mixed reactions to Yaw Shin Leong's expulsion|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|date=15 February 2012|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1183201/1/.html}}

* {{cite news|first=Hetty|last=Musfirah|title=Yaw Shin Leong's exit from WP leadership fuels further questions|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|date=8 February 2012|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1181751/1/.html}}

* {{cite news|first=Julia|last=Ng|title=Yaw Shin Leong resigns from WP leadership|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|date=7 February 2012|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1181549/1/.html}}

* {{cite news|first=Andrea|last=Ong|title=Yaw not appealing against expulsion; Hougang seat now vacant|date=22 February 2012a|work=[[Straits Times]]|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_769414.html}}

* {{cite news|first=Andrea|last=Ong|title=Comparison to Marine Parade by-election 'inappropriate'|date=23 February 2012b|work=[[Straits Times]]|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_769761.html}}

* {{cite news|first=Imelda|last=Saad|title=Yaw Shin Leong not appealing against expulsion|date=22 February 2012|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1184465/1/.html}}

* {{cite news|first1=Imelda|last1=Saad|first2=Joanne|last2=Chan|first3=Sharon|last3=See|title=Workers' Party expels Yaw Shin Leong|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|date=15 February 2012|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1183169/1/.html|access-date=16 February 2012|archive-url=https://archive.is/20120722190958/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1183169/1/.html|archive-date=22 July 2012|url-status=live}}

* {{cite news|title=The value of a by-election in Singapore|first=Eugene K. B.|last=Tan|url=http://themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/the-value-of-a-by-election-in-singapore-eugene-k-b-tan|work=[[The Malaysian Insider]]|date=20 February 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011075510/http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/the-value-of-a-by-election-in-singapore-eugene-k-b-tan/|archive-date=11 October 2012|df=dmy-all}}

* {{cite book|title=The Singapore legal system|first=Kevin|last=Tan|edition=2nd|publisher=NUS Press|year=1999|isbn=978-9971-69-213-1}}

* {{cite news|ref=CITEREFCNA20120217|title=Yaw Shin Leong's Parliament seat to be decided Feb 24|date=17 February 2012|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1183590/1/.html}}

* {{cite news|ref={{sfnRef|Elections Department|2012}}|title=WRIT OF ELECTION|author=Elections Department|publisher=Elections Department, Singapore|year=2012|url=http://www.eld.gov.sg/gazette/G_ParE2012/2012-05-09%20Parliamentary%20Elections%20Act%20-%20Writ%20of%20Election.pdf|access-date=9 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030022752/http://www.eld.gov.sg/gazette/G_ParE2012/2012-05-09%20Parliamentary%20Elections%20Act%20-%20Writ%20of%20Election.pdf|archive-date=30 October 2013|url-status=dead}}

* {{cite news|title=PAP confirms Desmond Choo as Hougang Candidate|author=The Straits Times|publisher=Singapore Press Holdings|year=2012|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/The-Big-Story/The-Big-Story-2/Story/STIStory_797319.html|ref={{sfnRef|The Straits Times|2012}}}}

{{refend}}

==Further reading==

* {{cite news|first=Joanne|last=Chan|title= No fixed time within which by-election must be called: PM Lee|publisher=Channel NewsAsia|date=15 February 2012|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1183211/1/.html |ref=none}}

[[Category:Elections]]