Yup, here’s a new episode of the WP saga.
In case you need to catch up on what’s happened, basically, the Committee of Privileges released a report last week to recommend the following:
- A $35,000 fine for Ms Raessah Khan due to three counts of abuse of privilege
- For Mr Pritam Singh to “be referred to the Public Prosecutor” for further investigations (so basically, be charged) for lying to Parliament
- For Mr Faisal Manap to “be referred to the Public Prosecutor” for further investigations as well, for refusing to answer questions in Parliament
As both Workers’ Party (WP) leaders, Mr Pritam Singh and Mr Faisal Manap, are possibly facing charges, they might lose their seats in Parliament if they are acquitted.
And that might arguably be an even more severe penalty than what was issued to Ms Khan, considering the fact that Mr Singh and Mr Manap serve as secretary-general and vice-chair of WP respectively.
Today (15 February), a Parliament hearing was held for the Members of Parliament (MPs) to debate the findings of the COP.
So here’s why the two WP leaders’ punishments seem worse than Ms Khan’s, as told by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah.
Repetition of Lie Prompted by WP Leaders… Or Not?
At the start of the hearing, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah brought up the main deciding factor contributing to the three WP members’ charges: Whether or not Ms Khan’s repetition of her lie in Parliament on 4 October was prompted by the WP leaders.
She pointed out, “The issue is this: When Ms Khan repeated the lie in Parliament on Oct 4, was she acting of her own accord or was she acting on the guidance of her senior party leaders?”
If Raeesah Khan had chosen to repeat her lie on her own accord, Ms Indranee noted that “the penalty should be higher” as it suggested that “she alone was responsible for deliberately repeating the lie despite being told otherwise – as claimed by Mr Singh – showing a lack of remorse.”
However, it’s a different scenario if she had been told to re-tell her lie by the WP leaders.
Calling Ms Khan a “young and inexperienced MP”, Ms Indranee mentioned that her “acting on the instructions or guidance of her party leaders to whom she deferred and to whose views she gave weight” would change the possible outcome of punishments since Ms Khan “is not the only one responsible”.
“In this case, the penalty should be lower,” she concluded.
Basically, if the WP leaders told Raeesah Khan to lie, then they’ve shot themselves in the foot lah.
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Ms Khan VS WP Leaders
Ms Indranee also raised the matter of how Ms Khan and the three WP leaders (including Sylvia Lim as well) have been adopting completely opposite stands with regards to this issue, which can only lead to one conclusion.
“The accounts of Ms Khan and the three senior WP leaders are diametrically opposed, so much so that in fact there can be no possibility of this being a case of differing interpretations or of any misunderstanding.
“It is a situation where either Ms Khan lied to the committee, or else Mr Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal lied to the committee. There’s no in-between.”
With it being a black-and-white issue now, the only way for us to find out who exactly lied is to continue watching the WP saga unfold.
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