Tag Archives: TAN CHENG BOCK

Dr Tan Cheng Bock has decided to appeal against the High Court for dismissing his application to contest the legitimacy of the upcoming Presidential Election. Despite having intentions to run for Presidency, he was not considered eligible due to amendments to the Constitution and the introduction of the reserved presidency. In Dr Tan's application, he called for an open election and disagreed with the government's decision for counting Mr Wee Kim Wee as the first popularly elected President.

This case is not about race. It is about process and procedures. It is about upholding the Constitution. Let’s keep it that way.

The High Court dismissed Dr Tan Cheng Bock's constitutional challenge to the upcoming reserved Presidential Election. This comes after the AGC accused Dr Tan of being selfish for undermining multiracial representation and for wanting to run in the next election. Dr Tan has until next Wednesday to file a notice of appeal and has not reached a conclusion. Does this come as a surprise? Have we lost yet another hopeful candidate who can actually be our voice?

With the first ever reserved presidential election coming up later this year, former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock and the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) have been locked into a legal battle in court over the constitutionality of the recent changes to the Elected Presidency.

I especially wish to thank those who have supported me in this journey: my lawyers from Tan Rajah & Cheah (Chelva Rajah SC, Earnest Lau and Zara Chan); Lord David Pannick QC; Jacqueline & Andrea; my family; the supporters who have stuck with me through thick and thin; those who have sent me encouraging messages, your prayers and well wishes.

Presidential hopeful Mr Tan Cheng Bock has issued his own statement on the embarrassing Lee family feud over the late Lee Kuan Yew's 38 Oxley Road home.

Lim Tean, Tan Kin Lian, Syafarin Sarif and I had started the initiative to publish a Non-Partisan Joint Statement in support of Dr Tan Cheng Bock's challenge of the Constitutional change to enforce Reserved Elected Presidency based on dubious grounds. We have come together as a group of concerned Singaporeans, from diverse walks in life and from a wide political spectrum, to ask Singaporeans to stand up and to protect our Constitution from constant manipulation by the PAP government to suit their selfish political needs. We are pleased to note that Dr Tan Cheng Bock has mounted a judicial challenge to the constitutionality of the next Presidential Election being a reserved election. Even if it is now the law that there must be a reserved election for a particular racial group if no one from that group has been President after 5 continuous terms, it is clear to everyone of us that only the Presidential election of 2023 need be a reserved election. The next Presidential election in September this year should be an open election as there have been only 4 elected Presidents since the Elected Presidency scheme came into effect, with Mr Ong Teng Cheong being our first elected President. We do not know of any ordinary Singaporean who has taken an opposing view. Since the PAP Government insists that the upcoming Presidential election is a reserved election under the Presidential Elections (Amendment) Act 2017, the burden was on them to explain to the Singapore people the basis of their decision. It was incumbent upon them to produce the advice which they said they had obtained from the Attorney-General, which formed the basis of their decision. This is no different to a judge having to give his reasons for a decision made by him. It was important for the Government to have made known the reasoning behind the Attorney-General’s advice because the Attorney-General’s advice does not constitute the law of the land and is open to challenge by way of Judicial Review.

The Government brushes off my press conference. MCI has missed my point totally. I do not dispute the Constitutional Commission’s report or the White Paper. However, I disagree with the way the Government has triggered the reserved election. I’ve given my reasons why we should rightly count from our 1st openly elected President Ong Teng Cheong. It’s the government’s turn to give their reasons why they choose to count differently, having accepted the report. This is a chance for the Government to explain. They should not brushed it off again.

I refer to the article “Tan Cheng Bock calls for Presidential Election to be open election” (Channel NewsAsia, Mar 31). It states that “Speaking on behalf of the Government, a spokesman from the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) said Dr Tan “has not raised any new points that require response”.

17. I now invite the Government or the AGC to explain why they counted the presidential terms of presidents who exercised elected powers. If need be, the Government can refer AGC’s opinion to Court for independent judicial verification. After all, the Courts have the final say on legal issues in Singapore. And a recent high profile Court of Appeal case has shown that the AGC is not always correct in their legal opinion.