1992 Marine Parade by-election

A by-election for the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency in Singapore was held on 19 December 1992. The by-election was called after the resignation of all four MPs of the GRC from their seats, including then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. The nomination day was held on 9 December 1992. The by-election marked the debut of Teo Chee Hean of PAP and Chee Soon Juan of Singapore Democratic Party.

Marine Parade by-election, 1992

19 December 1992
4 seats to the Parliament of Singapore
First party Second party   Candidate Goh Chok Tong Othman bin Haron Eusofe Teo Chee Hean Matthias Yeo Chee Soon Juan Low Yong Nguan Mohamed Shariff bin Yahya Ashleigh Seow Party PAP SDP Popular vote 48,965 16,447 Percentage 72.9% 24.5%   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Ken Sen Tan Chee Kian Sarry bin Hassan Yong Choon Poh Theng Chin Eng Yen Kim Khooi Suib bin Abdul Rahman Lim Teong Howe Party NSP SJP Popular vote 950 764 Percentage 1.4% 1.1%
MPs before election Goh Chok Tong Lim Chee Onn Othman bin Haron Eusofe Matthias Yeo PAP Elected MPs Goh Chok Tong Othman bin Haron Eusofe Teo Chee Hean Matthias Yeo PAP

Background

At the time of the by-election, both Deputy Prime Ministers, Ong Teng Cheong and Lee Hsien Loong, were suffering from cancer. Goh decided to hold a by-election in a safe constituency with the best chances of winning for “political self-renewal” to get people of “ministerial calibre” to join the government under PAP. While Goh, Othman bin Haron Eusofe and Matthias Yeo were running again in the same constituency, Lim Chee Onn was replaced with Teo Chee Hean, the former chief of the Singapore navy, for the by-election.[1]

At the 1991 general election, Goh promised to hold a by-election in 12 to 18 months’ time to allow J. B. Jeyaretnam, of the Workers’ Party, to contest a seat in parliament. Jeyaretnam was unable to contest in the 1991 general election due to a parliamentary ban which expired 2 months after the 1991 general election.[2][3]

Election deposit

The election deposit was set at $6000 per candidate. Similar to previous elections, the election deposit will be forfeited if the particular candidate had failed to secure at least 12.5% or one-eighth of the votes.

Results

By-election 1992: Marine Parade GRC[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	PAP	Goh Chok Tong Othman bin Haron Eusofe Teo Chee Hean Matthias Yeo	48,965	72.9	-4.3
	SDP	Chee Soon Juan Low Yong Nguan Mohamed Shariff bin Yahya Ashleigh Seow	16,447	24.5	+24.5
	NSP	Ken Sen Tan Chee Kian Sarry bin Hassan Yong Choon Poh	950	1.4	+1.4
	SJP	Theng Chin Eng Yen Kim Khooi Suib bin Abdul Rahman Lim Teong Howe	764	1.1	-21.7
Majority			30,804	45.9	-8.5
Turnout			68,436	92.5	-1.1
	PAP hold		Swing	-4.3

See also

• 2020 Singaporean general election - another election where a multi-cornered contest occurred in a GRC (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC between People's Action Party, Singapore Democratic Alliance and the new party, Peoples Voice)[5][6]

References

1. "PM tells why he picked his own ward". Retrieved 1 July 2020.
2. "Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam". Retrieved 1 July 2020.
3. "A politically shrewd manoeuvre". Retrieved 1 July 2020.
4. "1992 PARLIAMENTARY BY-ELECTION RESULT". Retrieved 1 July 2020.
5. Straits Times (30 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: All 93 seats to be contested at July 10 election; 192 candidates from 11 parties file papers on Nomination Day".
6. Straits Times (30 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC to see three-cornered fight for first time since 1992".