Singapore opposition urges election for empty seat

SINGAPORE opposition parties on Thursday urged the government to hold a by-election for a parliament seat vacated by a member of the ruling party who resigned and faces a possible jail term on a cheating charge.

The tiny Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) said an election was necessary following the resignation of Choo Wee Khiang, one of four MPs of the ruling People's Action Party in the constituency of Jalan Besar.

"It is now manifestly clear that this team is no longer the same one that asked residents ... for its mandate," SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan said in a statement.

Choo, 44, resigned Wednesday and pleaded guilty in the lower court to a charge filed last December of helping a businessman cheat a finance company of S$830,000 (US$481,159) by issuing false invoices.

He faces a jail term of up to one year, or may be fined $10,000, or both, if he is convicted, press reports said. The judge has fixed sentencing on Monday.

Any fine in excess of $2000 dollars bars a citizen from running for parliament for five years. Choo entered parliament in 1988 and was re-elected in the last polls in 1997.

The Workers' Party also challenged the ruling party to call for a by-election within three months, as it urged the remaining three MPs of Jalan Besar to resign "to prove they do not fear defeat."

"The only reason for not holding one is that the PAP fears a defeat and it will be seen by Singaporeans as such," said Workers Party' secretary-general J.B. Jeyaretnam, a veteran government critic and one of two opposition MPs.

In a commentary, an academic at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies said a by-election was needed since general elections were not expected until 2002.

"There should be a by-election as the next election is hardly soon. If it were coming soon, one could justify a short wait and use a caretaker MP from the next constituency," Wee Wan-ling, a fellow at the institute told the Straits Times.

Jalan Besar was one of the constituencies contested by the People's Action Party and the SDP, said SDP vice-chairman Gandhi Ambalam.

Ambalam told AFP his party was "prepared to fight" and field candidates if by-elections were called for.

If such elections were called, the SDP would highlight in its campaign for the seat the non-transparency and non-accountability of the government.

In a statement late Wednesday, Acting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he was saddened by Choo's resignation and that Choo "has done the right thing."

"Political leaders must be beyond reproach in their personal ethics and integrity. The same laws apply to everybody, no matter who he may be. This is the system of government that the (People's Action Party) has built up, and will continue to uphold," Lee said.

The SDP's Chee had earlier been disqualified from running after he and a colleague were each fined more than $2000 for holding a public rally in the business district without obtaining a license from the authorities.

But he regained eligibility to run for office after Singapore's chief justice last week reduced the fine imposed on him.