TWO Nominated MPs will call for the law governing by-elections to be fine-tuned when Parliament sits next week.
In calling for the change, Professor Thio Li-Ann and Dr Loo Choon Yong also identified several situations for a by-election to be called.
Other issues that are scheduled to be debated at the sitting, which starts on Monday, include:
1. The impact of high inflation on lower-income Singaporeans
2. The Government's position on whether people who are acquitted of crimes are in fact innocent; and
3. What is being done to help Home Team officers who are overworked because there are not enough of them.
Amendments to eight laws, including the Parliamentary Elections Act to let more Singaporeans living overseas vote, are up for debate too.
But what is likely to be a highlight of the session, which is expected to go on beyond Monday, is the by-election debate.
Prof Thio and Dr Loo proposed three changes to the law that would specify when a by-election must be called: One, if the minority MP required in a GRC vacates his seat; two, if half or more of the MPs in a GRC leave; or three, if an MP in a single-seat ward vacates his seat for any reason.
They also want all by-elections to be called within three months from when the seats are vacated, unless Parliament's term is due to end in six months.
Their call comes a month after Jurong GRC MP Ong Chit Chung died on July 14.
His death sparked a public debate on whether a by-election should be held to fill his seat in the five-member GRC.
The law does not mandate a by-election to fill a vacancy, unless all MPs in a GRC step down. It is silent on the timeline for when a by-election must be held.
Lawyer-MPs Alvin Yeo (Hong Kah GRC) and Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) will ask Law Minister K. Shanmugam to make clear the Government's position on factual innocence.
The Attorney-General's Chambers had, in a letter to The Straits Times Forum page in May, said people acquitted of crimes may not necessarily be factually innocent.
In a written judgment in July, Judge of Appeal V.K. Rajah said it was not helpful for suggestions to be raised about an accused person's 'factual guilt' once he had been acquitted, as to do so would be to undermine the court's not-guilty finding.
Said Mr Yeo, a Senior Counsel: 'The public may have questions as to what all this means. Should they treat someone acquitted as guilty? So it's important that the Government states its position on what exactly an acquittal means.'
Dr Lam Pin Min (Ang Mo Kio GRC) will ask Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan whether the public assistance allowance for the destitute who are unable to work will be reviewed as inflation has soared in the past six months.
It is now $330 a month for a person living alone.
Amendments to the Legal Profession Act will also be debated. These changes will let qualified foreign law firms to set up business in Singapore, to practise Singapore law in such fields as corporate banking, finance and maritime law.
The changes also provide for speedier action against errant lawyers, who can be fined up to $100,000, and for a lawyer whose physical or mental fitness is in doubt to be ordered by a judge to undergo a medical examination.
The Public Transport Council Act is also slated for change to empower the Council to initiate changes to bus and train fares, including removing the extra fare commuters now pay when they transfer from one bus or train to another.
