Tan Cheng Bock: No objection to Chief Justice hearing appeal case on reserved presidential election

Former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock said on Thursday (27 July) that he has no objection to Chief Justice (CJ) Sundaresh Menon being part of a panel of five judges who will hear his appeal case on this year’s reserved Presidential Election (PE).

The 76-year-old former Ayer Rajah MP said in a post on his Facebook page that some have asked whether CJ Menon should hear the case next Monday (31 July) since he chaired the Constitutional Commission that recommended the reserved PE.

The Court wrote to the Attorney-General and Tan’s lawyers asking if the parties have any objections to CJ Menon sitting at the appeal hearing and both sides said there were none, Tan said.

“I welcome CJ’s involvement. In my view, no other judge knows more about the subject than the CJ. It is therefore proper and beneficial to Singaporeans that he is available to address questions on the reserved election scheme and its spirit and purpose,” he added.

Tan also welcomed the formation of a five-judge appeal panel instead of the standard three-judge panel. In addition to CJ Menon, the other judges hearing Tan’s appeal case are Judge of Appeal Judith Prakash, Judge of Appeal Steven Chong, Justice Chua Lee Ming and Justice Kannan Ramesh.

“Having 5 judges (instead of the usual 3) is significant. It points to the importance of the Constitutional issues for clarification,” Tan said.

Tan’s comments come after his constitutional challenge to the timing of the reserved PE was rejected by the High Court on 7 July.

In May, Tan filed an affidavit to the High Court to challenge the counting of five terms of the elected presidency to trigger this year’s reserved PE. The upcoming election is reserved for Malay candidates and will be held in September.

Tan, who held a media conference in March on the issue, questioned the advice given by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to the government that the first term of the elected presidency began with President Wee Kim Wee.

Arguing that the election should be an open one, Tan said, “The AGC should have counted the five most recent presidential terms produced by open elections. This starts with President Ong Teng Cheong,” he said.

Tan subsequently filed an appeal against the High Court’s ruling.