Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam

JB Jeyaretnam at an event in Singapore (2005).

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (also known as JB Jeyaretnam or JBJ ) (born January 5, 1926 , † September 30, 2008 in Singapore ) was a Singaporean politician and lawyer. As a politician, he was the leader of the Workers' Party of Singapore (WP) from 1971 to 2001 and in 1981 became the first opposition politician to win a seat in the Singaporean parliament since Singapore gained independence . In the course of his career as a politician, Jeyaretnam repeatedly came into conflict with the Singaporean judiciary, which led to the personal bankruptcy of Jeyaretnam in 2001 as a result of an expensive libel judgment. After winding up his bankruptcy, Jeyaretnam founded the Reform Party in June 2008 , which has been led by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam since his death .

childhood and education

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam grew up in a Tamil family of Sri Lankan origin and was raised Anglican . After graduating from St. Andrew's School , Jeyaretnam began studying law at University College London .

Political career

In the aftermath of Singapore's secession in 1965, the People's Action Party (PAP) seized political control and won all constituencies in all elections from 1968 to 1981. In 1971, Jeyaretnam and a group of lawyers took over the then relatively insignificant Workers' Party and became general secretary of the WP. After several defeats in the constituencies of Farrer Park (1972), Kampong Chai Chee (1976), Radin Mas (1977), Telok Blangah (1979, 1980), Jeyaretnam finally succeeded in the 1981 by-election in the Anson constituency with 52% of the Push through votes against PAP candidate Pang Kim Hin (47% of the vote) and become the first opposition politician to win a seat in the Singaporean parliament. Jeyaretnam was able to repeat this success in 1984 with 57% of the vote against the PAP candidate Ng Pock Too.

Two months after his re-election, Jeyaretnam was charged with misrepresentation of party's assets, but managed to get hold of all counts except for an acquittal by Senior District Judge Michael Khoo. The prosecution was then reviewed and the Jeyaretnam case was retried in another district court on the express orders of the Attorney General, which found him guilty on all counts. The verdict - a three-month prison sentence and a four-digit fine - meant that Jeyaretnam was unable to run in parliamentary elections and had to resign from parliament for the next five years. Furthermore, his legal license was revoked. Since the case had been tried in a district court, it was not possible for Jeyaretnam to appeal the judgment in a higher instance. He then made use of his right to challenge the judgment before the Privy Council of the United Kingdom , which overturned the judgment in 1988. Despite the acquittal of the Privy Council, the judgment of the District Court in Singapore remained final and Jeyaretnam was only able to run again in 1991.

After his parliamentary ban had expired in 1991, Jeyaretnam was only able to run for a parliamentary seat again in 1997, but lost to the PAP in the Cheng San by-elections. However, since the opposition parties had only won two direct mandates in the elections and were entitled to a third non-district mandate, this was offered to the WP, which then elected Jeyaretnam into parliament. After the 1997 elections, eleven defamation suits were brought against Jeyaretnam because, according to plaintiff Goh Chok Tong , he had seriously damaged the reputation of those affected at home and abroad. The charges related to Jeyaretnam's testimony at a support speech for his colleague Tang Liang Hong in CHeng San that "Mr. Tang Liang Hong just presented me with two reports that he had submitted to the police against - you know - Goh Chok Tong and his group has put forward ". Judge J. Rajendran found Jeyaretnam guilty in the ensuing trial and fined him S $ 20,000. Goh then described the amount of the fine as "laughable" and went into revision. The judgment reached in the appeal then increased the fine to S $ 100,000 plus S $ 20,000 in legal costs.

After Jeyaretnam was unable to pay an installment of his fine in 2001, he had to file for personal bankruptcy. Since insolvent persons are not allowed to hold a parliamentary mandate, Jeyaretnam had to give up his mandate and lost his license as a lawyer again. In October 2001, Jeyaretnam finally gave up his post as general secretary and was replaced by Low Thia Khiang. He also left the Workers' Party shortly after resigning as General Secretary.

To pay off his debt, Jeyaretnam sold copies of the books he wrote, Make it Right for Singapore , which contains some of his speeches in Parliament between 1997 and 2000, and The Hatchet Man of Singapore , which describes the course of his trials. A 2002 documentary called A Vision of Persistence about the life of Jeyaretnam was withdrawn from a competition entry for the Singapore International Film Festival after the creators - editors at Ngee Ann Polytechnic - learned that under the little-known Films Act, any films that made the Commenting on the current political situation in Singapore are prohibited. A Vision of Persistence was the first film to be subject to the Films Act.

In 2004, Jeyaretnam tried in the Singaporean Court of Appeal to obtain a reduction in the total of S $ 60,000 he owed the eleven plaintiffs since the 2001 ruling. For this purpose, Jeyaretnam suggested paying off a third of the debt, after paying just over S $ 30,000 of the fine to date. The court accepted Jeyaretnam's wish to contribute to the company one more time and released him from bankruptcy in May 2007 after paying off S $ 233,255.78. In September of the same year, Jeyaretnam received his license to practice back.

Continuing his political career, Jeyaretnam announced on June 18, 2008 that the Registry of Societies had approved the formation of a new party, the Reform Party , of which he would become General Secretary. His intention to run as a candidate for this party in upcoming elections was not realized a short time later because of his death.

death

Early in the morning on September 30, 2008, Jeyaretnam complained of shortness of breath and was then driven to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. However, the doctors there did not succeed in resuscitating the now unconscious 82-year-old. Heart failure was found to be the official cause of death . A number of obituaries followed his death, including in the Guardian , the Economist and the New York Times .

His son Kenneth Rejaretnam succeeded him in the office of General Secretary of the Reform Party.

Personal

Joshua Jeyaretnam was married to Margaret Jeyaretnam, with whom he has two sons - Kenneth and Philip Jeyaretnam.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vengadesan, Martin (2003): standing still , Singapore Window (English); Accessed January 20, 2013
2. ^ Fei Fei Mok (2007): Opposition politician JBJ forming new political party , channelnewsasia.com (English); Accessed January 20, 2013
3. ↑ Privy Council Appeal No. 10 of 1988 (English) (PDF; 210 kB)
4. ↑ Lin Yan Qin (2008): Opposition politician JBJ's Reform Party gets approval , channelnewsasia.com (English); Accessed January 19, 2013
5. ^ Robertson, Geoffroy: Obituary: Joshua Jeyaretnam , The Guardian, Oct. 7, 2008 (English).
6. ↑ JB Jeyaretnam - Joshua "Ben" Jeyaretnam, an opposition politician in Singapore, died on September 30th, aged 82 , The Economist, October 9, 2008 (English)
7. ↑ Mydans, Seth: JB Jeyaretnam, Persistent Opposition Figure in Singapore, Is Dead at 82 , New York Times, October 3, 2008 (English)

Web links

• Amnesty International's Presentation of Libel Lawsuits Against Jeyaretnam