No motion on Parti Liyani in the next Parliament sitting

Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim will not be able to raise an Adjournment Motion when Parliament sits on Monday (5 Oct), after losing a ballot drawn by the Speaker on Tuesday (29 Sept).

Earlier this month, Ms Lim filed an Adjournment Motion in Parliament to examine the issues that have arisen from the court case involving former domestic helper Parti Liyani.

The motion, entitled “Justice For All: Enhancing Equity In The Criminal Justice System”, was filed on 14 Sept. That was 10 days after Ms Parti was acquitted on appeal for theft in a case brought by her former employer, then Changi Airport Group Chairman Liew Mun Leong.

In a statement released on 16 Sept, the WP said the motion Ms Lim is set to raise “will make reference to the deeper issues raised by the recent case involving Ms Parti Liyani”.

The opposition party added that Ms Lim, a lawyer, intends to “discuss aspects of the criminal justice system and the challenges faced by persons of less means in navigating it”. She will also propose specific suggestions to improve the system.

Sylvia Lim files parliamentary motion to examine issues arising from Parti Liyani case

On Tuesday evening Mr Tan said Ms Lim was among those who lost the ballot deciding on the motions raised in Parliament.

A motion filed by the ruling party MP Louis Ng, calling for protection against secondhand smoke in homes, won the ballot.

Aside from Ms Lim’s Adjournment Motion, motions filed by three ruling party MPs were not picked.

Nee Soon GRC MP Carrie Tan sought to speak about increasing support to help performance art workers sustain their livelihoods. Jalan Besar MP Denise Phua wanted to raise issues pertaining to persons with disabilities and mental health stigmatisation, respectively.

Mr Tan said the four motions that lost the draw will be part of the next ballot that will be held ahead of the parliamentary sitting after the session on 5 Oct.

Revealing that both Ms Lim and Mr Ng visited him to witness the draw, the Speaker wrote on Facebook:

“I had to draw from 5 possible Adjournment Motions for the next sitting in Parliament. At every sitting, MPs will table issues close to their heart and/or surface topics that are important and of public interest.

“When chosen, these will take place at the end of the day with up to 20 minutes allocated to the MP and 10 for the Minister to respond. Those that aren’t chosen can be resubmitted for the next ballot for the next sitting.”

Mr Tan said the result left Mr Ng a happy camper – a sentiment Mr Ng echoed in the comments section of the Speaker’s post. In a Facebook post of his own, Mr Ng wrote: ”

“A happy camper ? I won the ballot ? All set to speak up and fight for more protection from secondhand smoke in our homes ?”