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Workers' Party MP Raeesah Khan resigns, leaves party a month after lying admission in Parliament

SINGAPORE — Ms Raeesah Khan, the Workers’ Party (WP) Member for Parliament (MP) who was caught in a controversy after she admitted to lying in Parliament on a sexual assault case, has resigned from the party as well as her position as MP for Sengkang Group Representation Constituency.

Ms Raeesah Khan (pictured) said that she will be spending more time with her family and on causes that she feels passionate about after resigning from the Workers' Party.

Ms Raeesah Khan (pictured) said that she will be spending more time with her family and on causes that she feels passionate about after resigning from the Workers' Party.

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SINGAPORE — Ms Raeesah Khan, the Workers’ Party (WP) Member for Parliament (MP) who was caught in a controversy after she  admitted to lying in Parliament on a sexual assault case, has resigned from the party as well as her position as MP for Sengkang Group Representation Constituency.

In a press statement on Tuesday (Nov 30) night, the party said that at 4.30pm, Ms Raeesah had indicated to party chief Pritam Singh her intention to step down.

Later, at 8pm, she expressed the same intention at a meeting by WP's central executive committee. The committee was meeting to deliberate on the recommendation of a disciplinary panel that the party had formed to look into her conduct. 

“The party will hold a press conference on Thursday to provide more information on this matter and to share its plans to ensure that Sengkang residents, particularly in the Compassvale ward, continue to be cared for and represented,” the WP statement read.

Ms Raeesah, 27, who posted a letter addressed to Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin on her Facebook page, said that she will be spending more time with her family and on causes that she feels passionate about.

“I will always be indebted to the residents of Sengkang for giving me the honour of serving as their MP in the 14th Parliament,” she wrote.

“In spite of my own shortcomings, I hope that we continue to work together to make Singapore a place we are proud to call home.”

On Nov 1, she admitted in Parliament that she had lied about the alleged experience of a sexual assault victim who she said had been treated insensitively at a police station. She claimed that she had accompanied the victim there when she had not.

She merely heard about the alleged account at a women’s support group that she attended. The WP MP disclosed that she did not want to say at the time that she was attending the group session because she was a survivor of a sexual assault herself and "did not have the courage to publicly admit that I was part of it".

The opposition party later said that it had formed a disciplinary panel to look into her lying admission. 

At the time, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah referred Ms Raeesah’s conduct to Parliament's privileges committee, which looks into any complaint alleging breaches of parliamentary privilege.

On Tuesday, Ms Raeesah said that she will continue to assist the Committee of Privileges in its investigation into her case.

Related topics

Workers' Party Raeesah Khan WP Politics Parliament Sengkang GRC

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