Singapore High Court rejects politician Tang's legal bid
Singapore High Court rejects politician Tang's legal bid
SINGAPORE (Reuter): The Singapore High Court yesterday dismissed an opposition politician's application to strike out defamation suits filed by the prime minister, two ministers and other ruling party members.
The ruling permits the suits to go ahead.
Legal sources said the court also dismissed an application by Tang Liang Hong's lawyers for an extension to file his defense, and ordered Tang to pay the cost for yesterday's application.
Tang, a defeated Workers' Party candidate in a hotly contested constituency in Singapore's general election on Jan. 2, is currently out of the country.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and six other leaders of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) filed defamation suits against Tang for calling them liars during the election campaign.
"It is a very serious thing ... because if he is right and I am a liar, I should step down immediately. You cannot have a cheat and a liar as a prime minister," Goh said at a rally during the campaign, explaining his legal actions against Tang.
The remarks at issue were carried in an interview with the Straits Times daily newspaper, where Tang was quoted as saying PAP leaders had concocted lies about him.
Tang was criticized repeatedly during the election campaign by Goh and other members of the PAP as an extremist with views they said could threaten the harmony of multi-racial Singapore.
Among other charges, Goh said Tang told a seminar that Chinese-educated Singaporeans "were carrying the sedan chair for others" when they "should be sitting in the sedan chair".
Race is a sensitive issue in Singapore, which suffered race riots in the 1960s between the majority ethnic Chinese and minority Malays.
When contacted, Tang told Reuters he would contest all claims made by the ministers in their suits. He said his lawyers would file his defense.
"I would not stand being bullied. I will fight whatever I can," he said.
Tang added he would offer his properties in Singapore and Malaysia for sale, including his bungalow home, to raise funds of up to S$5 million (US$3.5 million) for his defense.
Tang left Singapore soon after the election, saying he and his family had received death threats. He has reportedly been in Malaysia and Hong Kong, and told Reuters earlier he was in London.