SINGAPORE — Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) Member of Parliament (MP) Leon Perera and senior Workers' Party (WP) member Nicole Seah have resigned from their positions within the party, it was revealed at a press conference at the party's headquarters on Wednesday (July 19).

WP's Secretary-General Pritam Singh said that the duo had resigned not solely because of the affair, but also because they had first lied to party members when asked about it earlier when initial evidence presented itself, which falls afoul of the party's constitution. 

It was only when a video clip on social media that appeared to show Mr Perera and Ms Seah holding hands and having a conversation over a candlelit dinner that Mr Singh spoke to the pair again. That was when they admitted to the affair, he said. 

Mr Singh added that the affair had started after the 2020 General Election and had stopped "some time ago".

Mr Singh said that had Mr Perera not resigned, he would have been expelled from the party. He later said that this was due to Mr Perera being untruthful to party leaders.

Mr Perera, 53, is married with two children. 

Ms Seah, 36, got married in 2015 and gave birth to her second daughter last year.

She had contested in East Coast GRC in the 2020 General Election and was part of the WP team that lost to the People's Action Party (PAP) team led by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.

WHAT TRANSPIRED

Mr Singh said that he was first informed of the affair by Mr Perera's ex-driver through messaging app WhatsApp. The driver had informed him that Mr Perera and Ms Seah were "meeting very often at restaurants and hotels, and have been seen hugging each other and holding hands".

"There was no evidence of corroborative 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," said Mr Singh. 

He said that Mr Perera had confirmed that the allegations of his driver were untrue, and that he was in an ongoing dispute with this driver and was about to terminate his services and had sought legal advice on the driver's allegations.

The driver also shared similar information with other members of the party, including party chair Sylvia Lim, Aljunied GRC MP Gerald Giam, Hougang MP Dennis Tan, and Sengkang GRC MP Jamus Lim. These members had all sought to verify the allegations with Mr Perera.

"Leon told them that there was no truth to these allegations," said Mr Singh.

Other members of the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) also approached Ms Seah after being informed of the same allegation, but she likewise confirmed with them that there was no truth to the allegation.

Both Mr Perera and Ms Seah were in the WP's CEC, which is the party's top decision-making body.

"When the video of Nicole and Leon emerged on Monday, that was the first time all of us saw it," said Mr Singh.

BOTH MEMBERS RESIGNED, WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPELLED OTHERWISE

Mr Singh said that upon viewing the video for the first time on Monday, he immediately contacted Mr Perera and Ms Seah to meet them separately that afternoon.

"Both of them admitted that they had an affair, which started after the General Elections in 2020, but that it had stopped some time ago," said Mr Singh.

When asked later to clarify when the affair stopped, Mr Singh said he did not have the specific dates and that it had stopped "shortly thereafter".

Mr Singh said Mr Perera had acknowledged that he should have been "more forthcoming when I and other party members first approached him about the allegations made by his driver".

He said that the party's CEC met on Monday evening to discuss this matter and to come to a decision. On Tuesday, Mr Singh received Ms Seah's letter of resignation from the party.

In the letter, Ms Seah acknowledged that her actions were "selfish and reckless" and that in "pursuing impropriety", she had caused "grave disappointment" to voters in the East Coast GRC. 

Mr Singh added that he had received Mr Perera's resignation letter on Wednesday, and that Mr Perera had also informed the acting Speaker of Parliament that he was resigning his seat in Parliament.

In his letter to Mr Singh, Mr Perera said that he had fallen short of the standards expected of him, and also apologised for "not being forthcoming with information" when the issue first came up within the party. 

Mr Singh said that the Constitution of the WP requires candidates to be honest and frank in their dealings with the party and the people of Singapore.

"Leon’s conduct of not being truthful when asked by the party leadership about the allegations fell short of the standards expected of workers party MPs," he said. "This is unacceptable."

"Had not offered his resignation, I would have recommended to the CEC that he be expelled from the party," he added. 

DID PAP RESIGNATIONS PRESSURE WP?

When asked by TODAY about whether the resignations of two PAP MPs this week over their affair influenced WP to do the same, Mr Singh said that the reason why Mr Perera and Ms Seah had to resign was not solely due to the affair, but their lack of honesty. 

Following the recent incidents involving politicians in affairs, political pundits had weighed in that the shock resignations of Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and Tampines MP Cheng Li Hui from the PAP likely put pressure on Mr Perera and Ms Seah to do the same should they be involved in an inappropriate relationship.

"The reason (for the resignations) is not because of what happened, because of the affair, the reason was because the party has an article in its constitution that it holds very, very close to its heart, and that is being frank and honest," said Mr Singh.

"If you fall afoul of that, then the consequences are severe."

Mr Singh said he is not referring to Mr Tan Chuan-Jin's affair, but about the two WP members "not being upfront with the party leadership" when asked about the allegations.  

He added that party members have a duty to be honest, which is then how Singaporeans will have faith and confidence of the party.

And while Mr Singh said that he regards Mr Perera as a "highly effective MP" and an important member of the WP team, there are also "other things" that cannot be ignored.

"The standard (has) to be kept and party discipline is incredibly important if you want to see us in advancing the interests of Singapore and Singaporeans... So that's how the decision was made," he said. 

'UNCANNY COINCIDENCE'

When asked for his take of the close timing of the incidents involving WP's and PAP's MPs, Mr Singh said that any comment he makes will be "speculative".

"I don't really enjoy a speculative narrative given my position, and I don't want to encourage speculative statements in public from any of my party members," he said. 

"But the fact that you are asking the question suggests that it is on your mind, and I think it's on a lot of people's minds, and I leave you to draw your own conclusion on this uncanny coincidence."