The Court of Appeal said Friday that Singapore's constitution does not give the country's prime minister unfettered discretion in calling for an election to fill a vacated seat of an elected Member of Parliament.
The court's three-judge panel said this in a 57-page document in which, in the same breath, it dismissed the appeal of Hougang resident Vellama Marie Muthu against a High Court ruling last year that the prime minister does have the discretion.
In its judgment, the CA, said: "Art. 49 does not give the Prime Minister an unfettered discretion in the calling of an election to fill a casual vacancy of an elected MP. He must do so within a reasonable time and in that regard, the Prime Minister is entitled to take into account all relevant circumstances and only in clear cases can there be judicial intervention." Full story
