Resignation of Michael Palmer: Attention turns towards by-election

On whether a by-election would be held for the Punggol East SMC, SMU Assistant Professor of Law Eugene Tan expected that it would not be held in the near future because Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is likely to take other factors into consideration, such as the desire to focus on national issues. Nevertheless, public expectations were skewed towards calling for elections, because the Parliament still had a remaining term of 3 years and 10 months. "However, under the law, the Prime Minister has absolute discretion on whether to call for a by-election," said Assistant Prof Tan.