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SINGAPORE – Workers\u2019 Party chief Pritam Singh\u2019s conviction has implications for party leaders Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap which will be part of upcoming discussions in Parliament, said Leader of the House Indranee Rajah.<\/p>\n
All three WP MPs had disputed the findings of a 2022 report by the Committee of Privileges (COP) regarding their involvement in former MP Raeesah Khan\u2019s lies to the House, hence Parliament had postponed making a decision then, she noted in a statement on Dec 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now that Mr Singh\u2019s court case has concluded and he has been found guilty of lying, these matters will be raised for discussion in January, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe COP\u2019s findings have been borne out by the Court judgments,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The parliamentary committee had said in its report that if the three leaders had guided Ms Khan to repeat her lie in Parliament, then such conduct would be unbecoming of a parliamentarian, and would amount to contempt of Parliament.<\/p>\n
Ms Lim is the party\u2019s chair while Mr Faisal is vice-chair.<\/p>\n
Ms Indranee was responding to media queries after her statement on Dec 17 that Parliament will discuss in January an \u201cappropriate response\u201d to Mr Singh\u2019s conviction for lying to the COP.<\/p>\n
The COP had in February 2022 released a report which said the \u201cappropriate sanctions\u201d for the three WP leaders for their roles in Ms Khan\u2019s untruths to the House and to the COP would be deferred until the end of investigations or criminal proceedings against Mr Singh.<\/p>\n
In her Dec 22 statement, Ms Indranee reiterated some of the findings of the COP, including Mr Faisal\u2019s refusal to answer the COP\u2019s queries that was referred to the Public Prosecutor for possible contempt of Parliament. After investigation, he was issued a police advisory, she noted.<\/p>\n
The COP also found that both Ms Lim and Mr Faisal had lied under oath by denying that they had told Ms Khan to hide her untruth in an August 2021 meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Khan resigned as MP for Sengkang GRC in November 2021, after repeating a false anecdote in Parliament. <\/p>\n
The COP convened in 2021 called in Ms Khan, Mr Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal, among others, for questioning. In its report in 2022, the committee recommended that Ms Khan be fined while Mr Singh be referred to the Public Prosecutor.<\/p>\n
Mr Singh\u2019s trial began in October 2024, nearly three years later. He was found by the courts to have lied to the COP on two key issues: on whether he had told Ms Khan to take her lie to the grave, and what he meant when he told Ms Khan that he would not judge her.<\/p>\n
On Dec 4, the High Court upheld Mr Singh\u2019s Feb 17 conviction on two counts of lying to the Committee of Privileges (COP), which included a $14,000 fine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Indranee had said on Dec 17 that separate to the WP\u2019s internal processes, it was necessary for Parliament to take notice of the Leader of the Opposition\u2019s actions and convictions for lying under oath. She added that lying under oath is a serious matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some countries, leaders who have lied, cheated or flagrantly broken the law still escape any legal or political consequences. We cannot accept such standards in Singapore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Indranee, who is Minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Office and Second Minister for Finance, also described the facts of the case as \u201cdisturbing\u201d.<\/p>\n
She also noted some findings from the court proceedings, including that the decision to come clean was made only when former WP chief Low Thia Khiang advised Mr Singh and Ms Lim on Oct 11, 2021, that the truth should be clarified in Parliament.<\/p>\n
After Ms Khan confessed in the House to lying, Mr Singh formed a disciplinary committee comprising himself, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal, to find out why Ms Khan had lied.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a travesty, given that the three of them already knew about the lie months earlier, and it was in fact Mr Singh who guided Ms Khan to continue with the lie,\u201d Ms Indranee said.<\/p>\n
None of these facts were disclosed when the disciplinary panel was formed, she added.<\/p>\n
WP said on Dec 17 that it had started the party\u2019s \u201cinternal processes\u201d in the light of the Dec 4 High Court judgment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n