Committee of Privileges on Raeesah Khan
WP leaders knew, but did not inform party that Raeesah lied: Report
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Workers' Party vice-chairman Faisal Manap told the Parliament's Committee of Privileges that he, WP chief Pritam Singh and party chairman Sylvia Lim had known about former Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan lying in Parliament for months, but had chosen not to disclose this to other party leaders, even during disciplinary hearings into the matter.
He accepted that it was hard to explain rationally why the three WP leaders had not reacted sooner to set the record right when they were aware that Ms Khan had lied.
In his testimony to the committee on Thursday, Mr Faisal disclosed he had met Mr Singh and Ms Lim twice ahead of the hearings, but refused to reveal what had transpired during those sessions.
He also disputed Ms Khan's account that they had told her the best thing to do was to take the lie she told in Parliament on Aug 3 "to the grave".
According to a second special report released by the committee last night, Mr Faisal said Ms Khan was lying about this part of a text message that she had sent to two other WP members, but he could not explain why she would do so.
On Thursday, he said that neither he, Mr Singh nor Ms Lim had reacted or discussed what to do when Ms Khan confessed to them on Aug 8 that she had lied in Parliament, as they had been overwhelmed after hearing about her sexual assault. Their main concern was for her well-being, he added.
The report said he accepted it was bad to lie to Parliament, and it was equally wrong to allow a lie to carry on. "He also agreed that if one knew of a true fact which would correct a deception on Parliament, keeping quiet would also be a problem, and could possibly amount to an offence," it added.
Mr Faisal also agreed it would have been logical for him to have asked questions about Ms Khan's intention to clarify the lie after he became aware of it. But he said he had left it to Mr Singh to handle the matter as he trusted the Leader of the Opposition.
The committee also heard from Mr Singh on Friday, and said it will also speak to Ms Lim as well as Sengkang GRC MP Jamus Lim. It met yesterday to discuss the special report, and is scheduled to meet again today.
