SINGAPORE: Former Workers’ Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan will be fined for lying in Parliament, while party leaders Pritam Singh and Faisal Manap will be referred to the public prosecutor after the House voted on Tuesday (Feb 15) to proceed with recommendations made by the Committee of Privileges (COP).
This came after a debate on two motions filed by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah, which lasted more than four hours.
The first motion was split into two parts after she clarified with the Workers' Party that it would support some parts of it. The first part was on taking note of the COP's report and agreeing with its findings that Ms Khan was guilty of abusing parliamentary privilege by lying twice in Parliament on Aug 3. It also said she should be fined S$25,000 for this. All MPs agreed with the motion.
The second part was on Ms Khan being fined S$10,000 for repeating the lie on Oct 4. A majority of MPs agreed with the motion, although WP members stood to register their dissent to this, as did the Progress Singapore Party's Non-Constituency MPs.
The COP said in its final report on Feb 10 that it was “satisfied” that Mr Singh, who is WP chief and Leader of the Opposition, had lied while giving evidence under oath, which could amount to perjury.
Mr Faisal should also be investigated for his “refusal to answer relevant questions put by the Committee”, which could constitute contempt of Parliament, it said.
The second motion on the COP's recommendation that Mr Singh and Mr Faisal be referred to the public prosecutor was also voted in two parts. The first was that offences under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act may have been committed before the COP.
The second part involved agreeing with the COP’s recommendations to defer any sanctions on the two and party chairman Sylvia Lim for their roles in Ms Khan’s lies, until any investigations and criminal proceedings against Mr Singh have been concluded.
All MPs agreed with both parts of the second motion, with the exception of the WP members who stood to register their dissent.
Mr Singh said in a Facebook post on Feb 10 that he and Mr Faisal would continue their work as per normal until matters were resolved. But there were still “a number of unknowns”, he said.
“These include the eventual decision of the Public Prosecutor to prosecute, the intervening time before the matter goes to trial, the eventual verdict and any sentence meted out, and the prospect of both Faisal and I losing our parliamentary seats and stepping down as Members of Parliament if either of us is fined $2,000 or more.”
The outcome in Parliament marks the latest development in the saga, stretching back to when Ms Khan first told the lie in August. After repeating the lie in October, she confessed in November that she had not been truthful about the account. She resigned from the WP and as an MP on Nov 30.
COP proceedings gathered pace in December, with the panel having 15 meetings lasting more than 35 hours in total. The panel is chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, and comprises six other People's Action Party MPs and WP MP Dennis Tan.
It also held an additional 31 hours of hearings, in which it heard oral evidence from nine witnesses. The committee also produced six special reports and a final report of more than 1,180 pages to Parliament.
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This came after a debate on two motions filed by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah, which lasted more than four hours.
The first motion was split into two parts after she clarified with the Workers' Party that it would support some parts of it. The first part was on taking note of the COP's report and agreeing with its findings that Ms Khan was guilty of abusing parliamentary privilege by lying twice in Parliament on Aug 3. It also said she should be fined S$25,000 for this. All MPs agreed with the motion.
The second part was on Ms Khan being fined S$10,000 for repeating the lie on Oct 4. A majority of MPs agreed with the motion, although WP members stood to register their dissent to this, as did the Progress Singapore Party's Non-Constituency MPs.
The COP said in its final report on Feb 10 that it was “satisfied” that Mr Singh, who is WP chief and Leader of the Opposition, had lied while giving evidence under oath, which could amount to perjury.
Mr Faisal should also be investigated for his “refusal to answer relevant questions put by the Committee”, which could constitute contempt of Parliament, it said.
The second motion on the COP's recommendation that Mr Singh and Mr Faisal be referred to the public prosecutor was also voted in two parts. The first was that offences under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act may have been committed before the COP.
The second part involved agreeing with the COP’s recommendations to defer any sanctions on the two and party chairman Sylvia Lim for their roles in Ms Khan’s lies, until any investigations and criminal proceedings against Mr Singh have been concluded.
All MPs agreed with both parts of the second motion, with the exception of the WP members who stood to register their dissent.
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UNKNOWNS MOVING FORWARD
Mr Singh said in a Facebook post on Feb 10 that he and Mr Faisal would continue their work as per normal until matters were resolved. But there were still “a number of unknowns”, he said.
“These include the eventual decision of the Public Prosecutor to prosecute, the intervening time before the matter goes to trial, the eventual verdict and any sentence meted out, and the prospect of both Faisal and I losing our parliamentary seats and stepping down as Members of Parliament if either of us is fined $2,000 or more.”
The outcome in Parliament marks the latest development in the saga, stretching back to when Ms Khan first told the lie in August. After repeating the lie in October, she confessed in November that she had not been truthful about the account. She resigned from the WP and as an MP on Nov 30.
COP proceedings gathered pace in December, with the panel having 15 meetings lasting more than 35 hours in total. The panel is chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, and comprises six other People's Action Party MPs and WP MP Dennis Tan.
It also held an additional 31 hours of hearings, in which it heard oral evidence from nine witnesses. The committee also produced six special reports and a final report of more than 1,180 pages to Parliament.
Continue reading...