Worker’s Party of Singapore reputation damaged by revelation of MP lying in Parliament
The Singapore Parliament had probably never witnessed such blatant lies and then confession of dishonesty, which truly shocked the nation.
Raeesah Khan, Worker’s Party of Singapore Member for Parliament (MP) for Sengkang GRC had admitted to lying to the parliament on 3 separate occasions, on an issue she raised herself that she was later unable to substantiate.
This unprecedented incident of dishonesty at the highest level of political forum had shocked Singaporeans and many questions had been raised on the internet over how Worker’s Party leader, Pritam Singh (whom is also the Leader of the Opposition) manages the party’s parliamentary participations as well as the possible lack of vetting/discussion of what was to be tabled in parliament as a representative of the party.
MP Raeesah Khan should not have shared an account that contained untruths in the House. The Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act gives an MP significant freedom of speech, to the extent that what is said in Parliament cannot be impeached or questioned outside Parliament. However, this freedom of speech does not extend to communicating untruthful accounts, even if an MP’s motives are not malicious. Raeesah has apologized to the Singapore Police Force, victims of sexual assault, her constituents, the Workers’ Party members and volunteers, and her parents. She shared with me that she wanted to set the record straight in Parliament. This was the correct thing to do.
Pritam Singh, Secretary-General, The Workers’ Party
Worker’s Party (WP) had been riding on a wave of dissatisfaction against the ruling party as well as a growing tide of support for the well organised Opposition Party that had seen the successful handover of leadership from the popular steward Low Thia Kiang to the now Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh. Such was the support that the Worker’s Party’s Sengkang GRC team knocked out the People’s Action Party (PAP) team that consisted two ministers of the team of 4. WP’s East Coast GRC team also gave the then Prime Minister-Elect Heng Swee Kiat-led team a massive scare with the PAP 5 member team winning a mere 53.39% of the vote.
This incident, while unlikely to cause Worker’s Party catastrophic damage to the party’s popularity in general, had significantly tainted the refreshing and slick WP brand. We believe that Raeesah has become a massive liability for the Worker’s Party and would be detrimental to WP’s chances of retaining their seats in Sengkang GRC in the next election, should Raeesah continues to presented as the election candidate for the constituency.
Pritam Singh is likely to going to have some very difficult decisions to make in the very near future with regard to this MP as well as the balancing act that will come with it. Party members is likely to be aware of the negative ground sentiment in regards to this incident and will be watching their leader closely, in a test of Pritam’s leadership skills.