Workers' Party leaders address the Perera-Seah scandal
During the press conference, Workers' Party secretary-general Pritam Singh and chairman Sylvia Lim addressed the recent scandal involving inappropriate exchanges between Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera and Youth Wing president Nicole Seah.
Read more about it at https://sg.news.yahoo.com/workers-party-leon-perera-nicole-seah-resign-video-clip-singapore-051427750.html
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Video transcript
PRITAM SINGH: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you to the members of the media for coming today.
I have called this press conference to address the matter of a video the Party said it was looking into two days ago on the 17th of July, 2023. The video suggested an inappropriate exchange between MP Mr. Leon Perera and Ms. Nicole Seah. I understand that there have been questions about the fact that certain members of the Party, including myself, MP Sylvia Lim, Gerald Giam, Dennis Tan and Jamus Lim, knew of the allegations involving Leon Perera and Nicole Seah. I will deal with this matter.
Sometime around late 2020 and early 2021, I was informed by Leon's driver through WhatsApp that Leon and Nicole were meeting very often at restaurants and hotels and had been seen hugging each other and holding hands. There was no evidence or corroborating information to support the allegation. I do not know Leon's driver personally.
Upon receipt of this information, I asked Leon whether anything was going on between him and Nicole. Leon confirmed that the allegations of his driver were untrue. Leon also shared with me that he was in an ongoing dispute with his driver and was about to terminate his services and had sought legal advice on the allegations of his driver.
Over the course of the next few months, Leon's driver also shared substantively the same information with other members of the party. The media has named Sylvia Lim, Gerald Giam, Dennis Tan, and Jamus Lim as the individuals Leon's driver communicated with.
When they received these messages from Leon's driver, all of them sought to verify these allegations with Leon. Leon told them that there was no truth in these allegations. Separately, other CEC members also approached Nicole after being informed of the same allegation by Leon's driver. Nicole confirmed to them that there was no truth to the allegation.
When the video of Nicole and Leon emerged on Monday, that was the first time all of us saw it. Upon viewing the video for the first time on Monday, 17 July, I immediately contacted Leon and arranged to meet him in the afternoon. I also arranged to meet Nicole separately the same afternoon. Both of them admitted that they had an affair which started after the general elections of 2020, but that it had stopped some time ago.
When I met Leon on the afternoon of 17 July, he acknowledged that he should have been more forthcoming when I and other party members first approached him about the allegations made by his driver. The Party CEC, or Central Executive Committee, met on the evening of 17 July to discuss this matter and to come to a decision. On the 18th of July, I received Nicole's letter of resignation from the Party. I have received-- I beg your pardon, I have received Leon's resignation letter effective today, and he has informed the Acting Speaker of Parliament that he was resigning his seat in Parliament. These letters are in your media pack which will be given out after this press conference.
The Constitution of the Workers' Party requires candidates to be honest and frank in their dealings with the Party and the people of Singapore. Leon's conduct in not being truthful when asked by the party leadership about the allegations fell short of the standards expected of Workers' Party MPs. This is unacceptable. Had he not offered his resignation, I would have recommended to the CDC that he be expelled from the party.
From the moment the Party was made aware of the video, we moved as quickly as we could, bearing in mind that we needed to be fair to everyone, to get to the bottom of matters and put things right, and we did so. I would like to request all Singaporeans to give both Leon and Nicole the space to feel and to be with their families and their loved ones. As you can imagine, this must be a difficult time for them. Ms. Sylvia Lim will now speak on the transition and handover arrangements in Aljunied GRC in Leon's absence. Sylvia?
SYLVIA LIM: Thank you, Pritam. OK, first, let me say that Aljunied GRC MPs are collectively responsible for all the residents of Aljunied GRC, including those living in Serangoon Division. And for now, please let me share some brief details of our handover arrangements reached thus far. First, on the Meet People Sessions, the Meet People Sessions in Serangoon will go on as usual, and the two locations at Serangoon North and Serangoon [INAUDIBLE]. Aljunied MPs have already been rostered till the end of the year to man these sessions in Serangoon
As for the other duties and ground work, we will be meeting with the Serangoon team of volunteers shortly to work these out. I myself am familiar with the ground Serangoon, having been MP there for nine years prior to my current assignment. Should any resident of Aljunied GRC, especially Serangoon, require to reach out to us, they can do so by email at aljunied@wp.sg, aljunied@wp.sg. And finally, please let me assure especially the Serangoon residents that the Party will use its best efforts to make sure that you are well cared for. Thank you.
