By-elections in Singapore

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By-elections in Singapore are elections held to fill seats in the Parliament of Singapore that fall vacant in between general elections, known as casual vacancies. In the past, the Government of Singapore took the position that the Prime Minister had discretion whether or not a by-election should be called to fill a casual vacancy in a Single Member Constituency, and could leave a parliamentary seat unfilled until the next general election. However, in the case of Vellama d/o Marie Muthu v. Attorney-General (2013), which arose from a vacancy in Hougang Single Member Constituency, the Court of Appeal held that the Constitution of Singapore obliges the Prime Minister to call a by-election unless a general election is going to be held in the near future. However, a by-election need only be called within a reasonable time, and the Prime Minister has the discretion to determine when it should be held.

The law provides that a by-election need only be called in a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) if all the Members of Parliament (MPs) in the GRC vacate their seats. It has been argued that the law should be amended, otherwise electors living in a GRC where a vacancy has arisen will lack parliamentary representation, and with a missing MP the remaining MPs may find it difficult to deal with constituency matters. Also, if the MP who vacates his or her seat is from a minority community and the seat is not filled, as indeed occurred when Halimah Yacob resigned to stand for the presidency in 2017, this would defeat the purpose of the GRC scheme, which is to ensure a minimum level of minority representation in Parliament. In response, the Government has said that mandating all remaining MPs in a GRC to vacate their seats upon the loss of one minority MP effectively enables the latter to hold the former to ransom;^[1] the other MPs of the GRC continue to represent the electors and should be able to handle constituency matters without any problems; and as the purpose of GRCs is to ensure minority representation at the national rather than local level, the loss of one minority MP in one GRC should not make much difference in practice as there remain other minority MPs in Parliament.

Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) are only declared to be elected at general elections, and there is no provision for the seat of an NCMP to be filled if it falls vacant. On the other hand, if a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) vacates his or her seat, a Special Select Committee of Parliament may nominate a replacement to be appointed by the President.

By-elections have been held 11 times since the independence of Singapore, the latest being the by-election held in 2016 to fill a vacancy arising in Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency.