Singapore — The Workers’ Party will weather the Raeesah Khan storm, says WP member and former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Yee Jenn Jong.
Mr Yee who had stepped away from active politics late last year was careful to state that he was saying this in his personal capacity.
He had served one term as NCMP from 2011 to 2015 and unsuccessfully contested Marine Parade GRC last year on the WP slate.
Mr Yee quoted WP’s former secretary-general Low Thia Khiang as saying: “You can’t be a political party over days or months. To form a party isn’t difficult, but to build (it) over time, to sustain it and to build that resilience under stress and pressure, and remain rational and responsible, that is not easy.”
Mr Low, who led the Workers’ Party from 2001 to 2018 holds a hallowed place in Singapore politics as the longest-serving opposition MP. He served in Parliament first as MP for Hougang from 1991 to 2011. Next, he led the five-member Aljunied GRC, until the 2020 General Election.
So it is natural for WP members like Mr Yee to quote Mr Low. Me Yee said that many, including people in the media, had sought his views as a former parliamentarian. But as he had written in a Dec 4 Facebook post he preferred “to wait and listen… before jumping to any conclusions”.
And now, that time has apparently come.
In his post on Dec 16, Mr Yee said that “the initial story” of Ms Khan, when she was questioned by the Committee of Privileges “is not consistent with what I know of WP’s processes and what I know of the 3 leaders involved”.
The three are current WP chief Pritam Singh, chairperson Sylvia Lim and vice-chair Faisal Manap. According to Ms Khan, the three leaders had told her to stick to the lie she had first told in Parliament instead of coming clean.
Mr Yee went on to recount his own experience when the party expelled former MP Yaw Shin Leong, “then a rising star with 10 years of very active and significant contributions to the Party.
“I had to unfortunately go through a very difficult experience (in February 2012) of expelling a former WP parliamentarian in my time in the leadership of WP…
Yet, the painful and necessary decision was taken to expel Yaw. No one is bigger than the Party whatever the contributions earlier made. I found it hard to believe the decision would have been to ‘take the lie to the grave’.”
What Ms Khan had done “in her original speech is unacceptable to Singaporeans, and doubly so by doubling down again when the issue resurfaced,” said Mr Yee.
“There was no way she could have maintained public office.”
“A swift departure would be best. It is not about pushing someone under a bus – if someone chose to go under a moving bus, even through inexperience, it is sad but disaster will happen.”
And while “less than ideal decisions may be made,” he expressed confidence in the party’s ability to overcome its current crisis.
“Stress and pressure will come, but I believe the brand equity is resilient enough to push on as long as the foundations are not changed,” said Mr Yee. /TISG
Read also: Sylvia Lim: Raeesah Khan ‘doubled down’ & repeated her lie on Oct 4
Sylvia Lim: Raeesah Khan ‘doubled down’ & repeated her lie on Oct 4