This afternoon (2 Dec 2021), the Workers’ Party (WP) held a press conference to clarify the Raeesah Khan incident.
During the press conference, WP leader Pritam Singh revealed a few nuggets of information that were previously unknown.
This includes when the party knew about her untruth, why she repeated her lie and what’ll happen going forward.
Here are 10 facts about WP’s press conference you should know so you can sound like an insider.
1. When Did Workers’ Party Leadership Know The Truth?
The first and foremost question in anyone’s mind would be this: When did WP first find out about the untruths?
After all, she couldn’t possibly skip the party and go clean in public, right?
Well, it seems that WP knew about her issue pretty early.
According to Mr Singh, the party leadership were made aware of her lie a week after she spoke about it in parliament in Aug 2021.
2. Had To Press Repeatedly For The Truth
After her speech in parliament, Mr Singh had asked Ms Khan to get in touch with the victim or individuals involved.
That’s because the authorities are looking for more information on the issue.
Initially, Mr Singh said, Raeesah also lied to him.
However, the truth eventually came out after she was “repeatedly pressed”.
“After being repeatedly pressed, a number of new facts and disturbing personal revelations were disclosed. These concerned Raeesah’s sexual assault and events which were unknown to the party leadership at that time, and other related matters of a deeply personal nature.”
3. Gave Her Space
Mr Singh revealed that, following her confession, he decided that the “immediate concern” was Ms Khan informing her loved ones of her sexual assault.
She had not informed them of the matter then, he said.
“In my judgment, it was important that she did so before she could fully address the reasons behind her untruthful conduct in Parliament, and to correct the record.
“In view of a sexual assault and my assessment of her state of mind, I was prepared to give her the space necessary to address the matter with her loved ones.”
4. She Has To Be The One Making Clarifications
In September 2021, Ms Khan came down with shingles, which was why she did not attend parliament.
However, the party had told her that she has to make the clarifications in parliament as an elected Member of Parliament.
In other words, come clean herself.
5. Repeated Her Lie
On 4 Oct, however, Ms Khan repeated her lie when questioned in Parliament.
It was “wholly inconsistent” with what she told WP leadership, Mr Singh said.
However, Mr Singh was unable to explain why she decided to repeat the lie, instead of coming clean.
“Why she didn’t take heed that instruction; why did she ignore it; that’s not a question I can answer.”
6. Resignation
On 1 Nov 2021, Ms Khan made the shocking confession which led to a domino of events that’ll see her retreating from her hard-fought seat.
On 30 Nov 2021, she sent in her resignation letter, leaving the party as well as her MP seat.
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7. Apology
While Ms Khan has acted of her own volition, Mr Singh said WP still had to take responsibility and tell the public what happened.
“I wish to end this statement by apologising to the residents of Sengkang for this turn of events. I also apologise to all victims of sexual assault, who’ve been hurt by this matter.”
He also added that WP should never take Singaporeans’ trust and faith in them for granted.
8. No By-Election in Sengkang GRC
And the second question of the day is this: What’ll happen to Sengkang GRC? Will there be a by-election?
The answer is no, according to Workers’ Party chair Sylvia Lim.
Speaking at the press conference, Ms Lim pointed out that the laws are “quite clear”.
Under the Parliamentary Elections Act, no by-election can be called unless all elected MPs have vacated their seats.
9. Confirmed By The Court of Appeal
This was confirmed by the Court of Appeal, she added, when Madam Halimah Yacob left her seat to run for President.
Then, the Singapore Democratic Party had appealed for a mandatory order to get the remaining members of the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC to step down.
Their appeal was dismissed on the grounds that not all members representing the GRC has vacated their seats.
In other words, there is a precedent.
10. Three MPs Are Still There To Do The Work
In the General Election last year, the majority of the GRC’s residents has given WP the mandate to represent them in parliament.
The party has a responsibility to complete the entire term, she asserted.
“We have three MPs in Sengkang still there to do the work.
“And it is the party’s responsibility to take this through for the remainder of the term. So that is what the party will do.”
As for what’ll happen to Raeesah Khan after her resignation, no one knows; it has, however, been confirmed that she’ll still be investigated by the Committee of Privileges despite her resignation.
You can catch up on the incident with our entire coverage below.
The Entire Coverage On The Raeesah Khan Incident:
- 10 Facts About the Raeesah Khan Lying Incident & What’s Next for Her
- Workers’ Party Has Formed a Disciplinary Panel to Look Into Raeesah Khan’s Lying Incident
- Committee of Privileges Has Started Investigating Raeesah Khan But Everything Will be Private So Far
- Everything About Raeesah Khan’s Sudden Resignation from WP & As Sengkang GRC MP
- Raeesah Khan Will Still Be Investigated by the Committee of Privileges Despite her Resignation
Feature Image: YouTube (CNA)
