WP’s Perera steps down from The Independent Singapore’s advisory board

SINGAPORE — The Workers’ Party’s (WP) Leon Perera is stepping down from the advisory board of The Independent Singapore (TISG), amid questions over his links to the website and the WP’s stand on an investigation into alleged breaches by TSIG of Cooling-Off Day rules. 

In a Facebook post on Wednesday (June 8), Mr Perera said his departure from the advisory board takes effect immediately. 

“I am also currently in the process of divesting my shareholding in the company that operates TISG to the other existing shareholders, a process which should be complete in the next month or so,” said Mr Perera, who is a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament for WP. 

Reiterating that he was not involved in the operation or management of TISG, Mr Perera said his decision to step down is to “ensure that any perceived link to TISG does not distract public attention when policy positions are taken by the Workers’ Party, particularly on issues related to media regulation”. 

He added: “My recent appointment as Deputy Chair of the WP Media team also makes this a necessary move.” 

Last week, the WP issued a statement expressing concern over the way the police were investigating the alleged violations of Cooling-Off Day regulations in the Bukit Batok by-election involving former political detainee Teo Soh Lung and blogger Roy Ngerng. A police report was also made against TISG. 

The authorities, the party said, should “ensure that consistency and proportionality are applied to all investigations”, to maintain confidence in law enforcement here.

This prompted People’s Action Party MP Tan Wu Meng to say on Facebook that WP, which did not declare Mr Perera’s involvement in TISG in their statement, could be seen as having an interest in the investigation outcome. 

WP should avoid giving the impression that it was trying to interfere with the investigation, he added. 

In a statement on Wednesday, TISG said it accepted Mr Perera’s resignation with “much sadness”. 

“We know that wherever he may be, his heart will be in greater media freedom and in the development of independent media space,” it said. 

“TISG would like to thank Mr Perera for his contributions towards our publication.”

TISG publisher Kumaran Pillai said apart from being a shareholder — the second-largest in TISG after himself — Mr Perera had advised on TISG’s marketing, and provided “sound advice as a business consultant”, but did not have any other role in the company.

Asked about the divestment plans, Mr Kumaran declined comment, saying he was planning to restructure the business, but added that he was not looking for more shareholders or investment at this stage. 

TISG lead editor Ravi Philemon also shared on his Facebook page on Wednesday that Mr Mohamed Fazli Talip, a former member of WP and the National Solidarity Party, has joined TISG-TOCL (The Opinion Collaborative Ltd), a partnership that would see the use of TOCL’s facility to hold discussions and talks, among other things.