Singapore — Speaking during the Parliamentary debate on the Committee of Privileges’ findings on Raeesah Khan, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said: “I reject these findings completely”.
“Who did this House commit to the COP? Raeesah Khan or the Workers’ Party leadership?” Mr Singh asked.
Mr Singh said on Tuesday (Feb 15) that the COP did not appear to want to get to the bottom of why Ms Khan lied in Parliament, nor why she had a propensity to lie with respect to her anecdote both in and out of Parliament.
He added: “The fact that she had concocted the lie to bolster her anecdote in Parliament was not balanced against her evidence to the COP. What took centre stage instead was her uncorroborated testimony that she was instructed to take the lie to the grave by the Workers’ Party leadership – a fabrication which never came out from any witness at the COP except Ms Raeesah Khan herself”.
Rejecting the findings completely, Mr Singh said: “At no time did I instruct Ms Khan to hide the truth. At the meeting on Aug 8, none of the three Workers’ Party leaders told Ms Khan to take a lie to the grave.”
Making “brief” comments on the COP report, Mr Singh said that at minimum, there should have been a listing of all the documents submitted by both himself and his fellow Workers’ Party colleagues, to indicate that they had been actively considered in deliberations. He added that he could only assume that they were not being considered despite them being served with a summons.
In his response, Mr Singh said that the WP disagreed with the reasons behind the lower quantum of fines for Raeesah Khan, because it is predicated on alleged guidance given to her by himself, Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Faisal Manap, which they reject.
“I am unable to accept the COP’s findings that offences have been committed under the Parliament Act by me or any other Workers’ Party MPs, therefore I will object to the second motion as the basis for the recommendations are that offences may have been committed by us. Nevertheless, should Parliament resolve to adopt the motion, I intend to clear my name and will cooperate fully with the public prosecutor.” /TISG