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The committee's recommendations are expected to be debated when Parliament sits next week.COP Report ——————- I have looked at the COP report and its recommendation to refer Faisal Manap and I for prosecution....
Posted by Pritam Singh on Thursday, February 10, 2022
Committee recommends WP's Pritam Singh face further probe, $35k fine for Raeesah Khan over lies in Parliament
The parliamentary committee has recommended that former WP MP Raeesah Khan be fined a total of $35,000 and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations. PHOTOS: GOV.SG
Justin Ong
Political Correspondent
Feb 10, 2022
SINGAPORE - A parliamentary committee has recommended that Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations and that former Workers' Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan be fined a total of $35,000 for their involvement in lies told by Ms Khan in Parliament in August and October last year.
In a report released on Thursday (Feb 10) following a series of hearings held in December last year, Parliament's Committee of Privileges said that Mr Singh's referral was with a view to considering if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted regarding his conduct before the eight-member panel.
The committee is chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and comprises six other People's Action Party lawmakers and Hougang MP Dennis Tan from the WP.
The committee also recommended that Ms Khan be fined $25,000 for stating an untruth in Parliament on Aug 3, when she claimed to have accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station where officers allegedly handled the matter insensitively and drove the victim to tears.
She repeated the untruth on Oct 4 - for which the committee is recommending an additional fine of $10,000.
In November, Ms Khan confessed in Parliament that she had in fact heard this anecdote in a support group she was part of, and had shared it without the victim's consent.
Ms Khan, 29, resigned as a WP member and MP for Sengkang GRC on Nov 30, a mere 15 months after being sworn in as Singapore's youngest MP after the 2020 general election.
The committee further recommended that WP vice-chair Faisal Manap, an MP for Aljunied GRC, be similarly referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations, namely into his refusal to answer "relevant" questions put forth by the committee, and to also consider if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted.
For Mr Singh, who is WP chief and an MP for Aljunied GRC, the appropriate sanctions should be deferred until after the conclusion of investigations or criminal proceedings against him, said the committee.
The committee's recommendations are expected to be debated when Parliament sits next week.
This is a developing story.
COP report damaging to WP, will shape political perceptions: Experts
A banner in Sengkang featuring Workers' Party MPs (from left) Louis Chua, He Ting Ru and Jamus Lim. ST PHOTO: SAMUEL ANG
Hariz Baharudin and Justin Ong
PUBLISHED
Feb 12, 2022
SINGAPORE - The proceedings of Parliament’s Committee of Privileges (COP) have been detrimental to the reputation of the Workers’ Party (WP) and its leaders, and have sent the opposition party into damage control, said observers on Friday (Feb 11).
But while the impact on the party and its constituencies is potentially severe, the WP is not down for the count yet, with many pointing out that its strong support base may cushion the harm it will receive.
The committee called for a fine of $35,000 for the WP's former MP Raeesah Khan for lying in Parliament, in a report it released on Feb 10 that was the culmination of a probe into her lies in Parliament last August and October.
The committee also recommended that WP chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and WP vice-chair Faisal Manap be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations for lying under oath in their testimonies. Both men are MPs for Aljunied GRC.
Effects on the WP as a party
Even before the committee released its report, the 31 hours of hearings from nine witnesses, released to the public during the proceedings, had already done damage to Singapore’s biggest and most successful opposition party.
Ms Nydia Ngiow, managing director at strategic advisory firm BowerGroupAsia Singapore, said the differing accounts of what had happened from various members of the party threw into question the credibility of WP and its MPs. “Within the party, we saw substantive, and potentially permanent, divisions amongst party members,” she said.
But it was the report by the committee on Feb 10 that dealt a decisive political and psychological blow to the WP, said observers. In particular, WP’s leaders were singled out for criticism, said Singapore Management University Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan.
“One immediate impact is that on cadres, members and volunteers, who are watching closely how the party leadership responds; in turn, they are likely to re-examine, in their own way, their association with the party,” said Prof Tan.
“The party is now in damage control mode, as seen by Pritam Singh’s relatively defiant Facebook post.”
In the post on Feb 10, which stressed that a number of unknowns remained in the wake of the report, Mr Singh said he would continue his work “as per normal”.
Nonetheless, Mr Singh is in “graver” danger in his political career than ever before, said Dr Gillian Koh, deputy director of research at the Institute of Policy Studies.
“The recommendation to send the issue of alleged perjury to the Public Prosecutor could cause those with no sense of political affinity to WP to almost ‘write off’ this set of leaders and look at whether there is a fresh set of younger MPs who can take up the mantle of leadership in the party,” she said.
The report’s recommendations of criminal investigations could see Mr Singh and Mr Faisal losing their seats in Parliament, and being disqualified from contesting the next election, should they be charged, found guilty and fined.
In Singapore, any person convicted of an offence and sentenced to at least a year’s jail or a fine of at least $2,000 is disqualified from elections.
Effects on residents
There has also been speculation online as to whether a by-election may be called if two out of the five MPs for the constituency are forced to step down before 2025, when the next general election is due.
Ms Ngiow pointed out that under the law, a Writ of Election shall be issued only if all the MPs in a GRC have vacated their seats, making it unlikely that residents in Aljunied would have to make a premature return to the ballot box.
Prof Tan also does not see voters in Aljunied GRC actively canvassing for a by-election, and that it would be up to the five MPs themselves to decide if it would be the right thing to do to quit and seek a fresh mandate through a by-election.
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) political observer Felix Tan said there was no legal obligation for the WP to seek a fresh mandate unless the courts or Parliament ordered it.
“While the leadership has been called into question for an allegation of any criminality that has yet to be determined, they have, nonetheless, continued to discharge their duties and responsibilities to their constituencies to the best of their knowledge,” he said, referring to the WP leaders.
Associate Professor Chong Ja Ian, from the political science department at the National University of Singapore, said any legal proceedings against the WP leaders could take a while and there may be no immediate need for them to step down.
‘Soul-searching’ needed for WP
Legality aside, there is an urgent need within the party to re-examine and strengthen its internal procedures in accountability, said Dr Felix Tan, noting: “Let this be a lesson for all political parties in Singapore - that if they wish to partake in gaining trust among Singaporeans, then they need to ensure that proper due diligence is upheld.”
Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, said an internal review could include a referendum on Mr Singh as party leader, secretary-general and Leader of the Opposition. But he and some other observers saw it likely that the party would close ranks around their leader, politically wounded though he may be.
They also said comparisons were inevitable with Mr Singh’s retired predecessor, Mr Low Thia Khiang.
“This saga, with the involvement of three key WP leaders who had the time and space to explain themselves and recover but didn’t, suggests that it is no longer the disciplined, well-managed party we believed it was under Mr Low,” said Dr Koh.
“Perhaps a change in leadership at WP - one that has grasped the lessons from this saga and those of its past - could allow for a reset at what Singaporeans had counted on to be a credible, First World opposition party,” she added.
Prof Tan said the WP had two choices: Either bury its head in the sand and regard the committee’s inquiry as a politicised witch hunt, or go about trying to stanch the inevitable bleeding of public trust and confidence.
“Mr Singh’s response next week in Parliament is likely to be defining for him and his party,” Prof Tan added, as others pointed out that the party had certainly weathered its fair share of storms before.
It has the “wherewithal” to turn around its predicament, said Dr Mustafa, though it would have to work doubly hard now to remain the opposition party of choice for the Singapore electorate.
Shaping of political perceptions
The release of the report – and the proceedings as they occurred – also triggered strong feelings directed not at the WP but at the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).
Some accused the committee, comprising six PAP lawmakers and one from WP, of being out to “fix the opposition”. Others labelled the report as a ploy to distract Singaporeans from a planned tax hike due to be announced in detail at the Budget next week.
The analysts acknowledged that the recommendations might not reflect well on the ruling party in the court of public opinion, but it remains to be seen how the outcome will affect Singapore’s political landscape at large.
“For those who feel that the COP process was partisan, the recommendations would probably reinforce notions that this was a way to dent the WP and its leaders,” said Dr Koh, adding that there would be growing demand for both sides of the House to uphold principles of integrity and accountability. “The PAP will have to be cautious about not precipitating a backlash against it.”
Ms Ngiow believed there will be greater scrutiny of younger candidates before they run for political office as a result of this episode.
Assistant Professor Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, from NTU’s School of Social Sciences, said the greatest impact might be on middle-ground voters, as to “whether they feel that WP’s credibility has been hit, or whether they feel this is injustice against an opposition that already does not have the same power as the incumbents”.