WP chief Pritam Singh to respond to privileges committee report in Parliament next week

SINGAPORE — Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh said that he will respond “more extensively” in Parliament next week to the report released by the Committee of Privileges on Thursday (Feb 10), which recommended that he and WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations.

In a Facebook post, Mr Singh, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, said: “I have looked at the report and its recommendation to refer Faisal Manap and I for prosecution. I will speak more extensively on the (committee's) report in Parliament when it is tabled for debate, expected to be sometime next week.”

The committee, chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, was looking into the conduct of former WP MP Raeesah Khan, after she admitted on Nov 1 that she had lied in Parliament. Ms Khan had falsely claimed that the police treated a sexual assault victim insensitively in her presence, but the truth was that she was not there and had heard the account from someone else.

In its findings, the committee on Thursday recommended that Ms Khan be fined S$35,000 for lying to the House multiple times and abusing her parliamentary privilege.

It also found that Mr Singh and Mr Faisal should be referred to the Public Prosecutor, meaning the Attorney-General, to "consider if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted", due to Mr Singh's conduct during the committee's probe and Mr Faisal's refusal to answer relevant questions.

Mr Singh said in his Facebook post that assuming Parliament takes in the committee’s recommendations, there still remain some 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 S$2,000 or more.”

And until there is some resolution to these matters, both he and Mr Faisal will continue their work, which includes conducting meet-the-people sessions, estate walks, house visits and other parliamentary commitments, as usual, he added. 

“The same goes for The Workers' Party team and its activities, including our outreach efforts in previously contested constituencies."