"All I want right now is just a fair trial ... get this case out for trial," said Chee, who was representing himself as he could not afford a lawyer, as he appealed against a summary judgement ordering him to pay damages.

Chee, the leader of the Singapore Democratic Party, is embroiled in a legal tussle with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for remarks he made in the run-up to the November 2001 general elections.

During the campaign, he confronted Goh in public and demanded that he account for a S$17 billion (US$9.83 billion) loan offered by the government to former Indonesian president Suharto during the Asian financial crisis.

Goh and Lee said the loan was never disbursed and claimed damages, asserting that Chee's allegations implied they were dishonest.

Last year, Chee's request for a trial to defend himself against the defamation charges filed by Goh and Lee was rejected and he was ordered to pay unspecified damages to the two leaders.

"I am not sure what the judge will do or whether he will deliver judgement today," he told reporters during the court break.

"I really wish there was a lawyer that could sit with me and go through some of the points and some of the legal jargons. I really don't know the meaning behind (some of the legal terms)," Chee said.

Chee has paid a series of fines and served brief prison terms in his fight against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), which has dominated politics in Singapore since independence in 1965.

Lee and Goh have regularly used defamation suits to silence critics and never lost a case.

In the process one former opposition politician has been bankrupted, and another has gone into voluntary exile and been declared bankrupt in his absence.

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