It might have gone slightly under the radar on Monday, but there was a case that was thrown out of the High Court that we think you need to know about.

The lady speaking into the mic in the picture above is Wong Souk Yee. She is an author, a playwright and former Chairperson of the Singapore Democratic Party — she is still a member of the party now.

Perhaps a more relevant detail is that Wong is also a resident of Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

We're talking about Wong because she recently took the government to court over the departure of one of her Members of Parliament from her GRC — namely this one:

And why'd she leave? Well, to become President:

[related_story]

So how like that?

As it turns out, all is dandy with this arrangement. So Wong, as a resident, wasn't too pleased about the situation for two reasons:

1) Halimah was one of four MPs elected to represent her and her fellow residents in the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC area of Singapore. Now that she's gone, the residents are left with three instead of their rightful four.

2) Halimah happens to be the only candidate of non-Chinese ethnicity — i.e. she was the only minority member of the group representing the residents there. Now that she's gone, the citizens of minority ethnicities (i.e. non-Chinese) living in the area now theoretically no longer have representation.

Now, we do note that it was announced subsequently that Choa Chu Kang GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad would take over the role of adviser to Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency. He still serves his MP duties in Choa Chu Kang, though.

And you may or may not know that the reason for the GRC's existence in the first place is precisely this — to ensure that Singaporeans of minority ethnicity have a chance to be elected to Parliament.

As then-First Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said back in 1988, during the GRC bill debate:

"... no single constituency in Singapore today can boast of a sizeable proportion of Malay constituents that can guarantee them election of a Malay representative into Parliament. We have therefore to recognise this and make right the result of a successful multi-racial policy, and that is the purpose of the Bill -- to ensure that there would always be a multi-racial representation in Parliament."

To be fair Goh did say "multi-racial representation in Parliament" and not at the GRC level. But Parliament is still one Malay short now.

Wong's case, as we mentioned, was thrown out by the High Court. To understand it, though, you need to first understand one line in our Constitution, and one line in our laws.

From the Constitution: Section 49(1)

This says that if a seat occupied by an elected MP is vacated, for any reason other than Parliament being dissolved, the seat "shall be filled by election in the manner provided by or under any law relating to Parliamentary elections for the time being in force".

In terms of interpreting that line in the Constitution, it would be tough for us to simplify it much further.

As it is, constitutional lawyers don't find agreement on how to read it, and previously, the issue of what it means went up to the High Court as well — in the case of Hougang SMC's by-election.

From the Parliamentary Elections Act: Section 24(2a)

It says:

"In respect of any group representation constituency, no writ shall be issued under subsection (1) for an election to fill any vacancy unless all the Members for that constituency have vacated their seats in Parliament."

In other words, if only one MP resigns from his or her seat in a GRC, there will be no need for a by-election as long as the others don't resign.

In fact, from the way it's worded, the case could well be that even if only one MP is left serving a six-MP constituency, if he or she doesn't resign from his or her seat, there won't be a by-election for the GRC either.

So here's what the case was about and why it got thrown out:

Represented by veteran senior counsel Peter Low, Wong's case was that Section 24(2a) of the Parliamentary Elections Act (i.e. the law that lets any number of MPs stay put even if one of their fellow GRC MPs might leave their seats) is not consistent with Section 49(1) of the Constitution.

There's also another part of the Constitution, Section 39a(2), which says GRCs must be represented by an MP belonging to a minority community until the dissolution of Parliament.

The law should, after all, be consistent with our country's constitution, no?

Justice Chua Lee Ming, the High Court judge who heard the case, explained in his judgement that Section 49(1) of the Constitution was written and passed prior to the existence of the GRC scheme.

Additionally, he pointed out, there currently exists no law that forces the other MPs in a GRC to resign from their seats when one leaves in the middle of a parliamentary term. Nor is there one that disqualifies the remaining MPs in a GRC when one is disqualified (for instance through bankruptcy or unsoundness of mind).

Justice Chua also pointed to the intent of Parliament in Section 49(1), which is, tracking back to the debate about this in 1988, to require a by-election in a GRC only if all the MPs occupying those seats resign from them.

It's also shown in Article 24(2a) of the Statutes too. He said:

"Under the GRC scheme, voters in the GRC vote not for individual MPs but for the GRC Team. It is the GRC Team that represents the GRC in Parliament. In the present case, the MYT GRC has continued to be represented in Parliament by the MYT GRC Team (albeit comprising one MP less)."

And so Wong's case was dismissed, with some $10,700 in costs to be paid to the government.

In conclusion:

- The Constitution says that when an elected MP's seat is vacated before Parliament is dissolved, a by-election shall be held to replace that MP.

- However, the law has a provision that says all elected MPs in a GRC must resign from their seats before a by-election will be triggered.

- There is also no law that forces the rest of the MPs in a GRC to quit or vacate their seats when one of them resigns or leaves.

Not happy with this situation? Go tell your MP about this — provided they're still serving you, that is.

Top photo adapted from Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC Facebook page