Pritam says he didn't tell Raeesah to lie, but left her to clarify truth

Workers' Party (WP) chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh last Friday told the Committee of Privileges that he had not directed former MP Raeesah Khan to lie, but took no steps for nearly two months to get her to correct her false statement.

According to a special report released yesterday, the third so far, Mr Singh told her to take ownership of the issue if it came up, and left it to her as it was her responsibility to do so.

"Mr Singh also said that if the matter did not get raised, then he... had no plans to voluntarily get the issue clarified, because it was Ms Khan's responsibility," the report said.

The WP chief also told the committee that he chose not to disclose her confession to party leaders or the public as he felt it was not important to do so. He also did not think much harm had been done to the police by the lie.

The report said Ms Khan had sent Mr Singh a text message on Oct 4 asking "What should I do, Pritam?", while Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam questioned her account in Parliament.

Mr Singh did not respond as he saw the message only later. Ms Khan repeated the lie in her response to the minister, and the committee raised questions about whether she was clear that Mr Singh had wanted her to tell the truth, as he had said.

During a hearing over nine hours long, Mr Singh said "the truth of the matter" was that Ms Khan had been told to take responsibility and ownership for an untruth that ultimately led to her resigning from the WP and as an MP for Sengkang GRC on Nov 30.

The report said Mr Singh agreed that the issue the committee was investigating - Ms Khan's lie in Parliament on Aug 3 about the details of a sexual assault case - was a very serious matter.

But the report said Mr Singh did not specifically tell Ms Khan to clarify the truth at the next available Parliament sitting she attended, on Oct 4, even if the issue was not raised.

Based on Mr Singh's advice to Ms Khan to take ownership and responsibility, he had an expectation - as opposed to an understanding - that she would clarify the truth, if the matter was raised, the report said.

He agreed that Ms Khan's text message was completely at odds with his expectation to tell the truth if the matter came up.

Mr Singh also denied asking Ms Khan to take her untruth "to the grave", as she had recounted in a WhatsApp message to two aides.

He said: "This rendition of what has happened is a complete, utter fabrication. It's a lie, a bare lie."