The Workers' Party (WP) will conduct a review of the Facebook posts made by Sengkang GRC candidate Raeesah Khan, but will do so after police investigations are complete, WP chief Pritam Singh said yesterday.
"There will be a time for this. My preference is of course to do it now, but because there is an ongoing police investigation, I cannot let those investigations be prejudiced by whatever comments I make or she makes," Mr Singh said when asked about calls from the People's Action Party (PAP) for the WP to make its stand clear on the candidate.
"So, we have made a very extensive statement during our doorstop (on Sunday). And I don't wish to add on to that. And I think the voters of Sengkang have heard her apology," he said.
Ms Raeesah, 26, had on Sunday apologised for making "insensitive" and "improper" remarks in two Facebook posts, in which she suggested the Singapore police discriminate against minorities.
She had said then that she did not mean to cause social division with her remarks, but had wanted to raise awareness about the concerns of minorities.
A day later, the ruling PAP issued a statement asking why the WP still considered her worthy of consideration as an MP given her statements about race and religion.
"This is a serious matter which goes to the fundamental principles on which our country has been built," it said.
Mr Singh was speaking to the media during a walkabout in the new Sengkang GRC with the WP's team for the group representation constituency.
The WP's slate is led by law-yer He Ting Ru, 37, who said that the WP candidates in the constituency have been working hard on the ground even after the latest developments.
"We have been having very deep and meaningful conversations with the residents. This matter has come up, and we have had very good discussions with some of the residents about this. They have expressed both support and concern," she said.
"I think it is important to go back to what Raeesah had actually said earlier. She has apologised for previous comments, and now we should just leave the matter in the hands of the police."
Apart from Ms He and Ms Raeesah, the other members of the WP team in Sengkang are economist Jamus Lim, 44, and equity research analyst Louis Chua, 33.
Ms Raeesah did not take any question from the media yesterday.
