WP needed time to carefully structure clarification: Sylvia Lim

Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim told a parliamentary committee she did not think it was an option for Ms Raeesah Khan to come clean at the Oct 5 sitting of Parliament, one day after the former MP repeated her lie in the House.

This is because Ms Khan and the WP leaders needed time to "carefully structure" a statement that Ms Khan would be comfortable with, according to the fourth special report released by the Committee of Privileges yesterday.

Ms Lim also cited a clarification that party chief Pritam Singh had drafted for Ms Khan on Aug 3 after Ms Khan first told her lie.

Ms Khan had insisted on the veracity of her anecdote, leading to Mr Singh drafting a clarification for her that turned out to "double down" on the untruth, said Ms Lim.

The episode "was a reminder of how things had to be done with due deliberation", Ms Lim was quoted as saying in the report.

Ms Lim, Mr Singh - who is Leader of the Opposition - and WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap had all acknowledged during hearings held by the committee that Ms Khan's repetition of the lie on Oct 4 had made the situation more grave.

In her Aug 3 speech, Ms Khan had said a sexual assault victim she accompanied to the police station had came out crying after an officer asked about her attire and if she had been drinking.

She has since confessed that she did not accompany the victim to the station.

In the report, Ms Lim was quoted as saying that it became even more urgent for steps to be taken to correct the parliamentary record after Ms Khan lied again during an exchange with Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Oct 4.

Asked why Ms Khan was not asked to set the record straight the very next day, Ms Lim said: "I think theoretically, yes, it's an option, but practically I don't think it's an option."

She explained that time was needed to carefully structure a clarification and to make sure that Ms Khan would be "emotionally stable and comfortable with her statement of clarification".

She also said the WP leaders would "need time to go in, ascertain from her exactly what she wants to say and whether it can withstand scrutiny".

Ms Lim told the committee at a hearing on Monday that she had been very frustrated when Ms Khan stuck to her untrue anecdote that day, as it "didn't appear that there had been any progress made on moving towards correcting the record and in fact... there was doubling down on the untruth".

After the exchange, Ms Lim had asked to meet Ms Khan in Mr Singh's office in Parliament House, to ascertain Ms Khan's emotional state, and also to tell Ms Khan her thoughts on the legal position, Ms Lim said to the committee.

At this meeting, Ms Lim said she had told Ms Khan that an issue brought up in Parliament should be dealt with by Parliament, since things said in the House are protected by privilege. She told Ms Khan to get legal advice, in the light of the fact that Mr Shanmugam had said the police would contact Ms Khan for assistance.

That night, Ms Lim met Ms Khan again, this time with Mr Singh present. After Mr Singh asked Ms Khan what she planned to do about the matter, Ms Khan had said perhaps there was another path - honesty, Ms Lim said.

The meeting ended shortly with Mr Singh saying that they would discuss the matter further.

Ms Lim said neither she nor Mr Singh had indicated when Ms Khan should set the record straight in Parliament, though this was what she had in mind.

It was only on Oct 12 that an express commitment was made for the first time for Ms Khan to clarify the lie in Parliament, during a meeting in Mr Singh's house, Ms Lim confirmed.

Ms Lim said she had also told Ms Khan it was all right not to respond to an e-mail that the police sent on Oct 7, since Ms Khan was going to make a clarification in Parliament.