Pritam Singh: Work to go on amid possible criminal probe after Raeesah Khan report
SINGAPORE — Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh said that he and party vice-chairman Faisal Manap will continue to serve their constituency, despite the duo being recommended by the Committee of Privileges (COP) for possible criminal proceedings in its Raeesah Khan report.
The committee had recommended in its report that former WP Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah be fined $35,000 for lying to the House multiple times and abusing her parliamentary privilege.
It also recommended that Singh and Faisal be referred to the public prosecutor to "consider if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted", due to Singh's conduct during investigations and Faisal's refusal to answer relevant questions.
In a post on his Facebook page on Thursday (10 February) – the same day that the committee report was released – Singh said that there are "a number of unknowns" for now.
"Assuming Parliament adopts the committee’s recommendations, there remain a number of unknowns. These include the eventual decision of the Public Prosecutor to prosecute, the intervening time before the matter goes to trial, the eventual verdict and any sentence meted out, and the prospect of both Faisal and I losing our parliamentary seats and stepping down as Members of Parliament if either of us is fined $2,000 or more."
The WP secretary-general and Aljunied GRC MP said he will speak more extensively on the COP report in Parliament when it is tabled for debate, expected to be sometime next week.
While some resolution to the matters at hand may take some time, Singh said he and Faisal will continue their work including the Meet-the-People sessions, estate walks, house visits and other parliamentary commitments. The same goes for the WP and its activities, including its outreach efforts in previously contested constituencies, he added.
"Finally, we thank the public for your encouragement and support towards the efforts of The Workers’ Party in building a more democratic Singapore, one that all Singaporeans can be proud of. That work will continue."
In the post, Singh thanked the public for their support of their party, saying that WP's efforts in building a more democratic Singapore "will continue".
Background to the Raeesah Khan saga
Raeesah had admitted on 1 November last year that she had lied repeatedly in Parliament about her interactions with an alleged sexual assault victim, she resigned as a party member and MP.
WP leaders admitted to knowing of Raeesah's lie days after she said it in August, raising questions as to why it remained uncorrected for three months. However, in Raeesah's testimony before the Committee of Privileges, she claimed that Singh and other senior party leaders had urged her to keep up the deception.
Further revelations have come following Singh's often combative nine-hour testimony before the COP, where he crossed swords with Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, who sits on the COP. Singh, Lim and Faisal have denied Raeesah's claim before the COP, while Raeesah has insisted she is telling the truth.
The COP concluded that Raeesah had acted under the guidance of the three senior WP leaders to keep to the untruth, and that she was not solely responsible for repeating the lie in Parliament on 4 October.
It said in the report that, following the conclusion by the public prosecutor on whether to initiate criminal proceedings against Pritam, it would consider sanctions for the roles of Singh, Lim and Faisal in Raeesah's lie, as well as lies told by Lim and Faisal to the committee while under oath or affirmation during the investigation.
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