Following a series of hearings that were held last December, the parliamentary committee has recommended that Pritam Singh, the Leader of the Opposition, to be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations, according to a report released earlier today (10 February).
They have also recommended that former Workers’ Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan be fined a total of $35,000 for telling lies in Parliament.
The Parliament’s Committee of Privileges said in their report that Mr Singh’s referral was to investigate if criminal proceedings can be instituted in relation to his conduct before the panel.
The Committee was chaired by Parliament Speaker Tan Chuan Jin, along with six PAP members and the WP’s Dennis Tan.
They have recommended that Raeesah Khan be fined $25,000 for the lie that she told in parliament on 3 August about accompanying an assault victim to a police station, alleging that the police made the victim cry with their handling of the matter.
They also recommended another fine of $10,000 for her repeating the lie on 4 October.
The committee also recommended that Faisal Manap, the vice-chair of the WP, to be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations as well, for his refusal to answer questions that were deemed “relevant” and to see if they can institute criminal proceedings.
Pritam Singh responds
Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh has since released a statement on the COP report on his Facebook, saying:
“I have looked at the COP report and its recommendation to refer Faisal Manap and I for prosecution. I will speak more extensively on the COP report in Parliament when it is tabled for debate, expected to be sometime next week.
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 $2000 or more.
Until there is some resolution to these matters which may take some time yet, Faisal and I will continue our work – including but not limited to MPS, estate walks, house visits and other parliamentary commitments – as per normal. The same goes for Team The Workers’ Party and its activities, including our outreach efforts in previously contested constituencies.
As always, Sylvia, Faisal and I are grateful to the public for their support of the Workers’ Party, and all three of us, like our party colleagues will continue to serve to the best of our abilities. 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.”