‘Finally over’: Singaporeans express relief after Indranee says no further parliamentary action to be taken against Sylvia Lim, Faisal Manap

SINGAPORE: On July 7 (Tuesday), House Leader Indranee Rajah said in Parliament that no further parliamentary action would be taken against Workers’ Party leaders Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap over the findings of Parliament’s Committee of Privileges (COP) arising from the Raeesah Khan case in 2021.

Ms Indranee explained that while Parliament still accepts the COP’s findings that Ms Lim and Mr Faisal had been untruthful, it no longer has the legal power to mete out penalties on them because the statutory time limit has expired.

“Had the timelines been different, I would have proposed a different course of action,” Ms Indranee said in her statement.

She added that Parliament had chosen to give Lim and Faisal “the benefit of the doubt” while the legal case against WP chief Pritam Singh proceeded.

Under Section 22 of the Parliament Privileges, Immunities and Powers Act (PPIPA), Parliament can punish contempt only for matters that took place during the current parliamentary session or the last session of the previous Parliament. As Ms Lim and Mr Faisal’s alleged misconduct had taken place during the first session of the 14th Parliament, Parliament no longer had the legal authority to impose sanctions. 

What Singaporeans are saying

A number of commenters online expressed relief that this part of the long-running controversy around former WP MP Raeesah Khan was done.

“Finally over sia. This drama really dragged longer than those Taiwanese Hokkien drama,” remarked a Facebook user, although the Court of Three Judges will be hearing the case that the Law Society of Singapore brought against Mr Singh on Aug 13.

“How many years can one incident last?” another asked. 

“That’s enough already….” a netizen commented.

One writer suggested that perhaps this needn’t have been a ministerial statement, writing, “The Parliament version of ‘This could have been an email’.”

Another added, “So they just wasted everyone’s time?”

Many seemed to feel that it was time to move on to issues that are more relevant to Singaporeans’ daily lives, saying that they hope Ms Indranee, who heads a task force aimed at reversing Singapore’s historic low birth rate, will turn her attention to that issue instead. /TISG

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