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On Wednesday (6 Nov), the High Court dismissed an application by Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Vice-Chairman John Tan Liang Joo to declare that he is eligible to contest in the upcoming General Election.
Under the Constitution, anyone who has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to an imprisonment term of more than a year or fined more than $2,000 cannot contest in the General Election or become a Member of Parliament unless he receives a pardon.
Tan, who was fined S$5,000 for contempt of court earlier this year, had argued through his lawyer M Ravi that the word “offence” in the Article only applied to criminal offences. As contempt of court is a quasi-criminal offence, this should not apply to his case.
Mr. Ravi had referred to a past incident during the 1988 General Elections where SDP candidate Jufrie Mahmood was allowed to run in the elections even though he had been found guilty of contempt of court and fined $3,000.
However, Justice Aedit Abdullah dismissed Tan’s application, saying he was disqualified from standing in elections under the “plain words” of the Article. In addition, there were “several difficulties” in relying on Jufrie’s case – such as a lack of details and no official record was tendered.
Speaking to the media, his lawyer Mr. Ravi said that the decision was “deeply disturbing” as this effectively meant that people who are not convicted of a criminal offence can now be disqualified from standing for elections.
Tan is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party.
http://www.tremeritus.net/2019/11/0...-from-standing-in-upcoming-general-elections/
Under the Constitution, anyone who has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to an imprisonment term of more than a year or fined more than $2,000 cannot contest in the General Election or become a Member of Parliament unless he receives a pardon.
Tan, who was fined S$5,000 for contempt of court earlier this year, had argued through his lawyer M Ravi that the word “offence” in the Article only applied to criminal offences. As contempt of court is a quasi-criminal offence, this should not apply to his case.
Mr. Ravi had referred to a past incident during the 1988 General Elections where SDP candidate Jufrie Mahmood was allowed to run in the elections even though he had been found guilty of contempt of court and fined $3,000.
However, Justice Aedit Abdullah dismissed Tan’s application, saying he was disqualified from standing in elections under the “plain words” of the Article. In addition, there were “several difficulties” in relying on Jufrie’s case – such as a lack of details and no official record was tendered.
Speaking to the media, his lawyer Mr. Ravi said that the decision was “deeply disturbing” as this effectively meant that people who are not convicted of a criminal offence can now be disqualified from standing for elections.
Tan is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party.
http://www.tremeritus.net/2019/11/0...-from-standing-in-upcoming-general-elections/
