SINGAPORE – On Wednesday, the Workers’ Party (WP) announced at a media conference that its Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera and senior party leader Nicole Seah had resigned after initially lying about an extramarital affair.

This was two days after a 15-second video clip of the pair was circulated online showing Mr Perera stroking Ms Seah’s hand at a restaurant. Mr Perera and Ms Seah are both married with children.

Political observers The Straits Times spoke to said the WP leaders’ acceptance of Mr Perera and Ms Seah’s initial denials, without thorough investigation, raises questions about the extent of political parties’ oversight of their members.

At the same time, they said, it is unrealistic to expect politicians not to have human failings.

They added the WP will have to fight even harder to establish its brand, build trust and wrest seats from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

Taking denials at face value

Political analyst and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) associate lecturer Felix Tan said the WP should have done a “thorough investigation” to verify if what the whistle-blower – Mr Perera’s driver – said was true.

He said: “Accepting the denials from both Ms Seah and Mr Perera (without thorough investigation) reflects shoddy leadership.”

However, Dr Chong Ja Ian, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said digging into what and when Mr Singh and other party members knew about the affair raises questions about how much political parties should police their members.

If both Mr Perera and Ms Seah carried out their official duties properly, there was no abuse of authority or position, and there was mutual consent, then their private matters should be left up to them and their families, said Dr Chong.

“Of course, voters can also decide whether these issues are the top issues that decide (how they cast) their ballots. That, too, is a personal decision.”

Dr Gillian Koh, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said it was extremely troubling that Mr Perera seemed to victimise his driver, and that he possibly took legal action against the driver for reporting the affair to the party leadership.

On Wednesday, Mr Singh told the media that after he had been informed about the pair by Mr Perera’s driver around late 2020 or early 2021, he asked Mr Perera whether anything was going on between him and Ms Seah.

Mr Perera said there was no truth to what the driver was saying, and that he was in an ongoing dispute with him and was about to terminate his services. He also said he had sought legal advice on the driver’s allegations, said Mr Singh.

Singapore Management University associate professor of law Eugene Tan asked if the right questions were asked by the party leadership, and if more information could have been disclosed.

For example, Prof Tan asked if they could have probed further into the information received rather than brushing it aside for lack of corroboration, and whether and when the party was informed of the indiscretion by Ms Seah after she had told her family.

“These, to me, are critical questions that will inform us whether the party was fully accountable and did the right thing from the get-go, or did it tolerate the indiscretion given that two senior and very high-profile members of the party were involved,” said Prof Tan.

In Mr Singh’s letter to Ms Seah addressing her resignation, he said that he was comforted to learn that she had started the process of healing with her family in 2022.

Dr Leong Chan-Hoong, head of policy development, evaluation and data analytics at Kantar Public, said it would be hard to dig further without specific evidence that can be corroborated by other sources.

“There are probably many allegations against PAP and WP MPs every other occasion. There will be operational paralysis and a climate of distrust if every allegation – especially unsubstantiated ones – is extensively investigated,” said Dr Leong.

Losing three leaders in two years 

Before Mr Perera and Ms Seah, another WP member who stepped down was former Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan in November 2021.

Ms Khan admitted to lying in Parliament in a speech she made in August 2021 about a sexual assault case which she alleged was mishandled by the police.

NTU’s Dr Tan called Wednesday’s resignations a “most unfortunate series of events” – not just for the WP, but for Singapore’s political landscape.

Given the earlier scandal with Ms Khan, he said, the revelation of an affair between two party members will put pressure on the WP.

Besides fending off competition in Sengkang GRC, the WP will now have to ensure that support from voters in Aljunied GRC, which Mr Perera was a part of, will not wane because of his misconduct, said Dr Tan.

He added: “Given all that has happened, the WP would seriously need to relook at how their party selects its candidates, and what are the protocols in place to manage members’ indiscretions.”

Dr Koh called it a “loss” for the WP, given that the seats of all its 10 elected members after the 2020 General Election were hard-fought wins.

Pointing to the extramarital affair between former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and former Tampines GRC MP Cheng Li Hui – both from the PAP – that was also made public this week, Dr Koh said both instances of personal indiscretions and lying to party leadership were equally egregious.

“But in the case of the WP, they have to struggle even harder to establish their brand, build trust and wrest seats from the PAP in the first place,” said Dr Koh.

“So, the price paid is far more costly.”

Will the WP be hurt at the next GE?

Political watchers say it remains to be seen how hard, and where, the scandal will hurt the WP at the next general election, which must be held by 2025.

Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, said the WP brand will “outlast... the occasional cropping-up of scandals and controversies”.

Its staunch loyalists will stick with the party through thick and thin, said Dr Mustafa, but the middle ground is a “different kettle of fish and could again prove to be the kingmaker in Aljunied GRC”.

That means the WP needs to fill the void left by Mr Perera as swiftly as possible, he said, adding: “Ms Seah’s resignation has dented WP’s hopes at this juncture to spring an upset in East Coast GRC, as it was a closely elected fight in 2020.”

Ms Seah was one of the party’s candidates in the team that contested East Coast GRC in the 2020 General Election.

They narrowly lost to the PAP team led by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, but produced WP’s best result in East Coast since it began contesting there in 2006.

Dr Leong said that as the PAP has faced similar scandals and disciplinary lapses, he did not think the WP’s revelation of the affair would affect it “too badly”.

“Moreover, Mr Singh has responded to calls for an investigation expeditiously,” he noted.

“That said, there are not that many prospective candidates in the opposition camp, and with two of their better-performing candidates out of politics, WP may find it harder to replace their vacated seats in the next GE (general election).”

NTU’s Dr Tan said all the controversies – from WP and PAP – have certainly impacted Singapore’s political scene.

This will probably lead to a more discerning electorate at the next polls – and possibly a number of hotly contested GRCs as well, he added.

Moving past the scandal

Despite the loss of the two party members, Dr Koh thinks it is unlikely the WP will waste a crisis.

She said now is the time for volunteers and prospective candidates to shine.

“Given what has happened, I am sure these volunteers hoping to stand will be more careful about their decision – so that they are not only there to serve for the right reasons, but know that the matter of personal conduct and honesty between members and leaders is equally important,” she said.

Dr Chong said there is a fixation in Singapore with having good people, but what Singaporeans may have to accept is that politicians are “human like everyone else, with human failings”.

He said: “Singaporeans have to ask themselves what they wish to do when people slip up to varying degrees, and how much they want a robust-enough system that can outlast any individual, rather than focusing on personalities.”

Some residents say affair is a personal issue

Ms Sarah S, 42, a resident of Mr Perera’s Serangoon ward, said his affair with Ms Seah was their personal matter, and what mattered more was how they had helped the community.

The administrative worker said that Mr Perera had a “kind, humble disposition, and had no airs about him”.

She added that it was a waste he had resigned as he had done much for his residents.

A resident of East Coast GRC, Ms Sharon Tan, 42, felt the extramarital affair was a personal issue that had nothing to do with the party itself.

Ms Tan, who said she has met Ms Seah before, said: “I was disappointed that she resigned because I think she can do a lot of work for WP.”

Senior store specialist Anthony S., 62, said Mr Perera’s affair was unexpected and sad news. He felt his MP should have exercised better judgment.

The Serangoon North resident said that Mr Perera had no choice but to resign.

“(However), the place should be okay because other MPs are also there.”

• Additional reporting by Mahima Srinidhi Hari and Vera Ang