Parliament asks Yaw whether he will challenge WP expulsion

Singapore’s Parliament has written a letter to dismissed Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Yaw Shin Leong to check whether or not he intends to appeal against or challenge his expulsion from the party.

Announcing this on Friday afternoon, Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer said they had received official word of Yaw’s dismissal from Workers’ Party secretary-general Low Thia Khiang on Thursday.

Yaw, who is believed to be overseas at the moment, has until next Friday, 24 February, to respond to the letter sent by the Clerk of Parliament to confirm his position.

According to Article 48(a) of Singapore’s constitution, a member’s seat in Parliament becomes vacant if he ceases to be or is expelled or resigns from the political party for which he stood in the election.

“It is presently unknown whether Mr Yaw is appealing against the Workers’ Party decision or is otherwise challenging his expulsion,” said Palmer. “The decision on the vacancy of Mr Yaw’s seat in this House will be taken when his reply is received or after the expiry of the deadline given to him to reply.”

This procedure to check with the MP concerned, he said, will be consistent with what was done in 1993, when incumbent Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong was expelled from the Singapore Democratic Party.

According to WP, Yaw was sacked for not explaining to the opposition party allegations related to his private life.

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