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[h=2]& Not the the heirloom of 1 Familee!
Constitution – No Elections to Fill MP Vacancies[/h]
August 2nd, 2012 |
Author: Contributions
“There is no requirement in the Constitution to call elections to fill elected Member vacancies,” – Justice Philip Pillai
The much awaited decision of the Vellama Muthu versus the PM case is out. And it is now clear, a ruling by a high court judge, that according to the Constitution, there is no need to fill the vacancies of a constituency if it is empty for whatever reasons. And the judge also ruled that the PM has absolute discretion whether to call an election to fill the vacancy of an elected Member.
Is that the final answer? Apparently yes. Can make a call for help? An appeal against this interpretation of the law? I don’t think there will be any other interpretation unless the Constitution is amended. So the people would now have to live with a constituency without an elected MP if the bugger buzzed off during his term of office for some reasons until the PM decided otherwise.
That must be the intention of the Constitution and must be good for the people. Constituents who go voting must now think doubly hard when they go to the poll. They must check the health and conduct of the candidate before voting just in case the bugger mati half way or kenna exposed for something and forced to resign. Then they can be left with no MP throughout the term.
The legislators must have seriously thought through this before writing the law into the Constitution, and this is good for the people and country. And technically if after 3 days of an election, an MP is knocked out for some reasons, just too bad. Under the Constitution and under this latest judicial interpretation, it is possible to have no MP to serve the constituents.
.
Chua Chin Leng aka redbean
*The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.ca/
.
Constitution – No Elections to Fill MP Vacancies[/h]



“There is no requirement in the Constitution to call elections to fill elected Member vacancies,” – Justice Philip Pillai

Is that the final answer? Apparently yes. Can make a call for help? An appeal against this interpretation of the law? I don’t think there will be any other interpretation unless the Constitution is amended. So the people would now have to live with a constituency without an elected MP if the bugger buzzed off during his term of office for some reasons until the PM decided otherwise.
That must be the intention of the Constitution and must be good for the people. Constituents who go voting must now think doubly hard when they go to the poll. They must check the health and conduct of the candidate before voting just in case the bugger mati half way or kenna exposed for something and forced to resign. Then they can be left with no MP throughout the term.
The legislators must have seriously thought through this before writing the law into the Constitution, and this is good for the people and country. And technically if after 3 days of an election, an MP is knocked out for some reasons, just too bad. Under the Constitution and under this latest judicial interpretation, it is possible to have no MP to serve the constituents.
.
Chua Chin Leng aka redbean
*The writer blogs at http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.ca/
.