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Workers' Party Chair Sylvia Lim confirmed that the Sengkang GRC MPs will not resign to trigger a by-election.
This was revealed during a press conference on Thursday (Dec. 2), which provided further details following Raeesah Khan's resignation from the WP.
Sylvia Lim's response
Lim was responding to a question asking if the remaining Sengkang GRC MPs would resign in order to trigger a by-election to give Sengkang residents the option for a "clean full slate of four MPs".
She referred to the Parliamentary Elections Act, stating that a Writ of Election shall be issued only if all the MPs for the GRC have vacated their seats.
If only one of the MPs vacates his/ her seat, the needs of residents in the GRC would continue to be served by the remaining members in the GRC team.
In GE2020, the voters of Sengkang gave the Workers' Party a "mandate to represent them in Parliament", Lim said, adding: "We have three MPs in Sengkang still there."
Sengkang GRC continues to be served by He Tingru, Jamus Lim and Louis Chua.
Sengkang residents continue to be served
The boundaries for the divisions within Sengkang GRC will also be redrawn to three divisions, He Tingru said.
MP Faisal Manap from Aljunied GRC will also be supporting Sengkang GRC in an advisory capacity.
The party is committed to ensuring a smooth transition with regard to resident affairs in the Compassvale division, which Raeesah was in charge of.
Compassvale residents will continue to have a direct line of contact to an MP who will represent them, she said.
"Residents are welcome to reach out to anyone of us even if they reside in a different division, as they have always been able to do."
Background timeline
On Nov. 30, the party announced Raeesah's resignation, which also entails her resignation as a Member of Parliament (MP).
WP said in a statement that its Central Executive Committee (CEC) met at 8pm on Nov. 30 to deliberate and decide on the recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee, which was formed on Nov. 2 to investigate Khan's admissions in Parliament.
Following her resignation, the Clerk of Parliament said its Committee of Privileges will continue to look into the complaint against Raeesah Khan for lying in Parliament.
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Top photo by Mothership.