Leader of the Opposition and Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh is under a police probe in relation to a controversy involving former MP Raeesah Khan lying in Parliament. - ST
SINGAPORE: Leader of the Opposition and Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh was charged on Tuesday (March 19) with two counts of lying to a parliamentary committee, two years after the police opened investigations into his conduct before the Committee of Privileges.
The charges relate to his testimony before the committee, which had been convened in November 2021 to look into a lying controversy involving his party’s former MP Raeesah Khan.
The committee called Singh as a witness and said later that he had not been truthful during the hearings while under oath. It recommended referring him to the public prosecutor for further investigations with a view to consider criminal proceedings, which Parliament later endorsed.
Standing in the dock on March 19, 2024, the 47-year-old opposition politician, who was unrepresented, pleaded not guilty to the two charges under Section 31(q) of the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act and claimed trial.
He requested for a four-week adjournment to engage a lawyer. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for April 17.
Lying in response to questions posed by a parliamentary committee is considered a criminal offence under the Act, and carries a maximum fine of $7,000 and a jail term of up to three years or both.
Singh arrived at the State Courts at 10.45am, clad in a black suit. When asked why he was at the courts, he replied: “Why would someone come to the State Courts?”
When asked if he had anything to say after being charged, he said he would be releasing a statement later.
The committee’s recommendation for Singh to be referred to the public prosecutor had come after it investigated Khan for lying in Parliament.
During a debate on empowering women on Aug 3, 2021, Khan, then MP for Sengkang GRC, had claimed to have accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station where the victim was treated insensitively. She repeated the claim again in the House on Oct 4, 2021.
This was later found to be untrue, and Khan eventually told Parliament on Nov 1, 2021, that she had been sexually assaulted herself and had heard about the victim’s experience at a support group session.
She resigned from the WP and her parliamentary seat on Nov 30, 2021.
By this time, she had been referred to the eight-member committee, which comprised seven People’s Action Party MPs and one WP MP.
The committee comprised then Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Defence Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Law Rahayu Mahzam, Hougang MP and WP organising secretary Dennis Tan, and Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Don Wee.
After a total of 31 hours of hearings held over several weeks, the committee found Ms Khan guilty of abuse of privilege and recommended that she be fined a total of $35,000.
It also recommended that Singh, along with his fellow Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap, be referred to the public prosecutor for further investigations – Singh for not being truthful in his testimony under oath, and Faisal for his “flagrant and inexcusable” refusal to answer relevant questions.
In a joint statement on March 19, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and police said Mr Faisal will not be charged. He has been issued an advisory to familiarise himself with conduct expected of Members of Parliament under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, and to refrain from any act that may be in breach of it.
WP chairman and Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim had also been called as a witness by the committee, but was not referred for further investigations.
At the crux of the matter was the three months that elapsed before Ms Khan confessed in Parliament on Nov 1, 2021, to lying.
The committee concluded that Singh had played “the key and leading role” in advising her not to come clean after she first fibbed, and said he had lied when he asserted during the hearings that he had asked her to set the record straight in the House.
Singh has consistently denied the allegations. Though he acknowledged that he had given Khan too much time to clarify the lie, he said he had done so as he was sympathetic to the fact that she had been a victim of sexual assault.
In its 1,180-page report presented to Parliament on Feb 10, 2022, the committee said it was beyond its purview to recommend that any penalty be imposed on both opposition politicians.
The committee added that while the default position is that Parliament should deal with matters that arise in a parliamentary context, it appeared best in this case that the matter “be dealt with through a trial process, rather than by Parliament alone”, given the seriousness of the two WP leaders’ actions.
In February 2022, after debating the committee’s report, Parliament voted in favour of the committee’s recommendation. The Attorney-General then referred both men to the police for investigation.
Political watchers and observers have been watching for updates to the case, with some wondering if Singh might end up being more heavily punished than Khan.
Singh had posted in February 2022 about the prospect of losing his seat as an MP or being disqualified from standing for election, since this could happen if a person is jailed for at least one year or fined at least $2,000. The disqualification lasts for five years.
The Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act was amended in May 2022 with the fine quantum for disqualification increased to at least $10,000. - The Straits Times/ANN
