No by-election in Sengkang after Raeesah Khan's exit, 3 remaining MPs will stay on: Sylvia Lim
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(From left) WP MPs Jamus Lim, Louis Chua, Sylvia Lim and He Ting Ru leaving the party headquarters, on Dec 2, 2021.
ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
SINGAPORE - There will be no by-election in Sengkang GRC following the resignation of Ms Raeesah Khan, said Workers' Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim on Thursday (Dec 2).
Ms Khan's Compassvale ward will be divided up between the remaining three MPs, Ms He Ting Ru, Associate Professor Jamus Lim and Mr Louis Chua, who will continue to serve the constituency.
WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap, who is an MP for Aljunied GRC, will serve as an adviser to the Sengkang team.
Speaking at a press conference, Ms Lim said the residents of Sengkang had given the WP team a mandate to represent them at last year's General Election.
The law is clear that a by-election can be called only if all the MPs in a constituency resign, she said.
The Court of Appeal had ruled in 2019 that no by-election needed to be called in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, after Madam Halimah Yacob stepped down as MP in 2017 to run for the presidency, she noted.
Said Ms Lim: "We have three MPs in Sengkang still there to do the work, and it is the party's responsibility to take this through for the remainder of the term, so that is what the party will do."
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Ms He said the new divisions of the constituency will be published on the WP's various communication channels and notice boards as soon as is practical.
"Enfolding Compassvale into the oversight of the three MPs ensures that all residents of Compassvale will continue to have a direct line of contact with an MP who will represent them," she said.
"Residents are welcome to reach out to any one of us, even if they reside in a different division, as they have always been able to do."
The WP will provide additional support to the Sengkang team for their weekly house visits, which are expected to resume in January, and Sengkang Town Council's operations will continue uninterrupted, said Ms He.
She also said the Sengkang team has very committed members who have been working tirelessly to serve residents, and referred to the incident involving Ms Khan as an unfortunate turn of events.
"We would like to thank (Ms Khan) for the work that she has done for Compassvale residents, and also to wish her the very best in the future going forward," she said.
WP chief Pritam Singh said the party hopes Mr Faisal's involvement in Sengkang will assure Malay-Muslim residents that their issues will not be ignored.
"Having said that, I also don't want to go too far with this because as a multiracial country, there's nothing stopping any MP of any race to bring up issues that affect minority groups or communities," he added.
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