Yaw Shin Leong's Parliament seat to be decided Feb 24
The Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer said he has been officially informed by the Workers' Party (WP) that Mr Yaw Shin Leong, Member of Parliament for Hougang, has been expelled from the Party.
Singapore Parliament House.
SINGAPORE: The Speaker of Parliament said he has been officially informed by the Workers' Party (WP) that Mr Yaw Shin Leong, Member of Parliament for Hougang, has been expelled from the Party.
Mr Michael Palmer said received the letter dated February 16 from the Secretary General of the WP.
It is presently unknown whether Mr Yaw is appealing against the Workers' Party decision or is otherwise challenging his expulsion.
The Clerk of Parliament on Friday morning wrote a letter to Mr Yaw asking him to inform her in writing by February 24 if he intends to appeal against or challenge the expulsion.
Mr Palmer said: "The decision on the vacancy of Mr Yaw's seat in this House will be taken when his reply is received or after the expiry of the deadline given to him to reply."
Under the Constitution 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.
The Constitution also states that whether an MP has vacated his seat "shall be determined by Parliament whose decision shall be final" with a proviso which permits Parliament to postpone its decision "in order to allow for the taking or determination of any proceedings that may affect the decision."
The last time Parliament saw on a Member of Parliament expelled from the political party for which he stood in an election was in 1993, when former Potong Pasir MP Mr Chiam See Tong was expelled from the Singapore Democratic Party.
The expulsion was challenged by Mr Chiam and Parliament did not take any move until the issue was resolved.
