A grave situation: What happens if your MP is incapacitated?

For Members of Parliament (MPs), their main role is to act as a bridge between the community and the Government, to be the voice of their constituents, the people who elected them. 

We take a look at several Singapore MPs that served their constituents until they were unable to do so due to certain medical conditions or even death, and what happened to the seats they vacated. 

2010: Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Ang Mo Kio GRC MP

Balaji was a former neurosurgeon who was first elected MP for Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in 2001. 

He was later diagnosed with colon cancer, undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his colon in 2008. He died in September 2010. No by-election was held to fill his vacated seat.

In 2008, then-Nominated MP Thio Li-ann filed a motion in Parliament calling for new laws to require a by-election should a minority member or half or more members of a GRC vacate their seats midterm. 

The motion was voted out as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore’s electoral system focused on political parties, not individuals. 

Hence, MPs cannot switch parties and still keep their seats. Neither can they resign to force by-elections at will. Furthermore, the mandate of the Government is not affected by the vacancy.  

2008: Ong Chit Chung, Jurong GRC MP

Ong was a veteran MP who had served the people since 1988, and was in the middle of his fifth term as MP when it was announced that he had died of a heart attack at home in July 2008.

The news was particularly shocking as he had looked well, attending his weekly Meet-the-People Sessions as usual, and even played a round of golf with fellow MPs less than 24 hours before his death. 

After he passed, then-Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Lim Boon Heng said no by-election was required under the law and that Ong’s duties in his Bukit Batok ward would be shared amongst the other MPs from Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC). 

1993: Tay Eng Soon, Senior Minister of State for Education and Eunos GRC MP 

Tay was an academic at the National University of Singapore before he left to become a politician in 1980. 

He had been suffering from various medical conditions, including cancer and diabetes, but eventually succumbed to heart failure in 1993. No by-election was held, and other MPs from the same GRC chipped in to cover his duties.  

1977: N. Govindasamy, Radin Mas MP and Lim Guan Hoo, Bukit Merah MP

Govindasamy, the then-MP for Radin Mas constituency, died suddenly in February 1977. To fill his vacant parliamentary seat, a by-election was held in May, and it was won by Bernard Chen Tien Lap from the People’s Action Party (PAP).  

Two months later another by-election was held, this time for Bukit Merah constituency, as the incumbent MP, Lim Guan Hoo, had suffered a stroke and was in a deep coma, causing him to be absent from Parliament for two months. The Bukit Merah seat was eventually filled by Lim Chee Onn of the PAP. 

kailun@asiaone.com