Opposition candidate stopped from leaving Singapore for Sweden

May 8, 2006, 1:18 GMT

Singapore - A defeated opposition candidate at the centre of a controversy over a campaign form was stopped at Changi Airport, prevented from leaving Singapore for Sweden and questioned by police for eight hours, he said Monday.

Police confirmed in a statement that they were conducting an investigation after receiving a complaint against Gomez, 40, from the Elections Department.

The Workers' Party (WP) candidate said that he had planned to head back to Sweden on Sunday to resume work at the Stockholm-based think- tank, Idea International.

With his passport 'seized and impounded indefinitely,' he asked police for a letter to explain the situation to his employers, he told reporters at the Police Containment Complex.

Gomez, an ethnic Indian, was stopped at the immigration counter, and his passport and boarding pass were taken.

He was brought to the complex to be interviewed regarding a report filed against him Saturday by the department. Saturday was the general election, in which the ruling party secured 82 of the 84 seats in parliament.

The controversy, dubbed 'Gomezgate,' overshadowed last week's campaign after the candidate said he had submitted a minority race candidacy form at the department. A security camera recording showed he had instead put put the document back in his briefcase.

Leaders of the ruling People's Action Party later accused Gomez of trying to discredit the department by claiming its staff had misplaced his form.

Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng charged that Gomez stage- managed the entire episode from the start. By the end of last week, ministers were claiming that he had committed a crime.

Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, now minister mentor, called Gomez a 'liar.'

Gomez apologized to the department during an election rally for causing 'any distress or confusion' among the staff, but the PAP dismissed the apology.

The candidate refused to comply with PAP calls for his withdrawal from the race. WP chief Low Thia Khiank, one of the two opposition candidates to retain his seat in parliament, refused to drop Gomez from the party's ticket.

WP Chairwoman Sylvia Lim showed up Sunday night at the Containment Complex. Emerging three hours later, Lim said she was called as a witness to give a statement.