Parliament votes to refer Pritam, Faisal to prosecutor

Parliament voted yesterday to refer Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations over a lying saga, after a four-hour debate in which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged MPs from both sides of the political divide to uphold the integrity of the institution, while Mr Singh denied the charges levelled against him.

PM Lee warned that trust in Parliament and Singapore's political system will be eroded if flagrant, egregious transgressions by MPs were allowed to pass, during a debate on the report of Parliament's privileges committee which had called for Mr Singh to be referred to the Public Prosecutor for possible criminal charges.

"A democracy not founded on integrity stands on shaky ground, and will soon totter," he said.

The committee was set up to look into lies told by former Workers' Party MP Raeesah Khan in Parliament on Aug 3 and Oct 4 last year, but had found serious misconduct by Mr Singh, as well as WP chair Sylvia Lim and vice-chair Faisal Manap, in the process of its investigations.

Yesterday, the House voted to fine Ms Khan $35,000 and also to refer the conduct of Mr Singh and Mr Faisal to the Public Prosecutor.

Mr Singh rejected any suggestion that he had asked Ms Khan to lie.

He said he had no objection to being referred to the Public Prosecutor, adding several times: "I intend to clear my name and cooperate with the Public Prosecutor."

Ms Khan had on Aug 3 claimed to have gone with a sexual assault survivor to a police station, where officers allegedly mishandled the matter and drove the woman to tears. She repeated the untruth on Oct 4.

She later confessed that she had lied, and eventually resigned from her MP seat and from the WP.

PM Lee, telling MPs that integrity was the linchpin of democracy, said Ms Khan deserved to be punished for her lie.

But he added that the WP leaders' transgressions were more grave - the committee concluded that they had lied under oath during its hearings - given how they had sought to frustrate the committee's process and also "betrayed the trust reposed in them as MPs, not least Mr Singh, the Leader of the Opposition".

"What I personally find most disappointing in the WP narrative and in their response, including in this House today, is the complete absence of any admission that the three MPs have done anything wrong. There is no contrition."

He said former WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang, whom he called a "patriot", must be saddened by what his successor had done, even if he publicly seemed confident the party could ride it out.

PM Lee added: "And it need not be a setback for our democracy either, provided we hold Mr Singh and his colleagues accountable for dishonouring the standards of this House, and also for possibly breaking the law."

In the end, a total of 10 MPs spoke, including the three WP leaders and two Nominated MPs.

NMP Raj Joshua Thomas said that it was best left to the Public Prosecutor to get to the truth, while NMP Janet Ang said Singapore had a reputation for trustworthiness and high standards.

MPs were allowed to vote separately on the different parts of the first motion, which called for Ms Khan to be fined $35,000 for abusing parliamentary privilege: $25,000 for lying in August and $10,000 for repeating the lie in October.

This was after Mr Singh said the WP was objecting only to one specific part about Ms Khan's reduced $10,000 fine, as that was premised on him, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal supposedly instructing her to lie.

The second motion, which was also split, called on Parliament to refer Mr Singh and Mr Faisal to the Public Prosecutor for their conduct before the committee. It also seeks to defer any parliamentary sanctions on the three WP leaders over their role in Ms Khan's lie, until the Public Prosecutor's investigations - and any criminal proceedings - are concluded.

Both motions were passed, with Mr Singh and the WP MPs supporting part of the first motion and voting against the second motion. Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MPs Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa voted in support of all parts of both motions, except for the part of the first motion on the $10,000 fine.