Editing Devan Nair (section)

===President of Singapore===
Nair entered the [[Parliament of Singapore]] in 1979 by winning the [[Anson Constituency|Anson]] seat in a by-election, and retained the seat in the [[1980 Singaporean general election|1980 general election]]. He resigned the seat in 1981 to accept the then largely ceremonial office of President as the country's [[head of state]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Singh|first1=Bajinder Pal|title=Thailand's Indians hope for stability, peace after coup|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/other-news/Thailands-Indians-hope-for-stability-peace-after-coup/articleshow/35612651.cms|access-date=5 December 2015|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd}}</ref> This resulted in the [[1981 Anson by-election]] which was notably won by opposition leader [[J. B. Jeyaretnam]] of the [[Workers' Party (Singapore)|Workers' Party]] (WP), the first time in Singapore since 1963 when a party candidate not from the PAP had won a parliamentary seat.<ref>{{cite web |title=Singapore Party Loses Vote |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/11/01/world/singapore-party-loses-vote.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=9 July 2023 |date=1 November 1981}}</ref>

====Resignation====
On 28 March 1985, Nair suddenly resigned in unclear circumstances.<ref>{{cite web |last1=John |first1=Alan |title=President resigns |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19850329-1.2.2 |website=The Straits Times |access-date=14 January 2020 |date=29 March 1985}}</ref> Deputy Prime Minister [[Goh Chok Tong]] stated in Parliament that Nair resigned to get treatment for his [[alcoholism]], a charge Nair hotly denied.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/08/world/asia/obituarydevan-nair-82-expresident-of-singapore.html|title=Obituary:Devan Nair, 82, ex-president of Singapore|date=8 December 2005|work=The New York Times|access-date=19 August 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to Nair's [[counterclaim]], he resigned under pressure when their political views came into conflict and Goh threatened him during a game of [[chess]] to oust him as president. Nair also alleged that he was fed drugs to make him appear disoriented and that rumours were spread about his personal life in an attempt to discredit him. 

However, Nair's claims were never substantiated. In 1999, an article about the case in the Canadian newspaper ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' resulted in a [[libel]] suit by Goh.<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.singapore-window.org/sw99/90329gm.htm
 |title=SW: Former president Nair criticises suppression of dissent
 |work=singapore-window.org
 |access-date=18 November 2010
|archive-date=2 January 2017
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102041002/http://www.singapore-window.org/sw99/90329gm.htm
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref> Some claimed that the suit was thrown out of court after Nair's counterclaim.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sgmlaw.com/PageFactory.aspx?PageID=252|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101004557/http://www.sgmlaw.com/PageFactory.aspx?PageID=252|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 November 2006|title=Lee v. Globe and Mail (Nair v. Lee)|date=1 November 2006}}</ref> However, in a letter to ''[[The New York Times]]'', it is said that Goh agreed to discontinue the suit only when two of Nair's sons issued a statement, reported in ''The Globe and Mail'' on 1 July 2004, maintaining that Nair was no longer mentally competent to give evidence in court.<ref>{{Cite news
 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/opinion/22iht-edlet.html|title=Letters:Devan Nair|work=New York Times|access-date=31 August 2011|date=22 December 2005}}</ref> ''The Globe and Mail'' statement concluded that "having reviewed the records, and on the basis of the family's knowledge of the circumstances leading to Mr. Nair's resignation as [[President of Singapore]] in March 1985, we can declare that there is no basis for this allegation (of Mr. Nair being drugged)."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.singapore-window.org/sw04/040701gm.htm|title=Former Singapore leader stricken by illness|work=singapore-window.org|access-date=31 August 2011|archive-date=17 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417054031/http://www.singapore-window.org/sw04/040701gm.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>