'I'm not resigning': former NCMP Daniel Goh doubles down after Workers' Party says it will 'look into' his comments

The party cadre had posed some "inconvenient questions" for the leadership on Facebook.

Andrew Koay | December 02, 2021, 05:27 PM

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The Workers' Party will investigate comments made by its former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Daniel Goh on Facebook regarding the party's handling of former Sengkang MP Raeesah Khan.

In a post commenting on the timing of Raeesah's resignation, Goh pointed out that many "inconvenient questions" remained for the party's leadership.

"In politics, these can become a sticky ugly scent eroding trust," the associate professor of Sociology at the National University of Singapore (NUS) mused.

Responding to the comments, Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh said at a Dec. 2 press conference that "cadre members don’t usually operate in the way Mr Goh did".

"But this is an internal party matter that we will look into."

You can see the post below:

Responding to queries from Mothership, Goh called the matter of Raeesah's resignation one of "public concern".

Explaining that he had not received any "special communication" that would make him more informed than an ordinary citizen, Goh said: "I have every right as a citizen to speak my views".

"This is in line with party values. If the party sees fit to censure or sack me for asking pertinent questions that makes for a leadership accountable to the public, then so be it."

"It is a reflection on the leadership," he said before adding: "By the way, I am not resigning".

Background

After Raeesah's resignation, Goh had posed a number of questions for the Workers' Party's leaders, regarding the seemingly "convenient" nature of the announcement.

"What motivated her to resign only now? Did anyone of importance asked her to resign and why?" he wondered publicly.

It was not the first time that the NUS professor had aired his thoughts on the circumstances in parliament that saw Raeesah admit to lying to the House.

On Nov. 3, after Raeesah's admission, Goh called the incident a "debacle" and said it has "affected him badly".

"It has shaken my trust in the party, to which I gave almost ten good years to help build up, and to which I still belong as a cadre member."

"I can't believe that a WP MP blatantly lied multiple times in Parliament," he wrote on Facebook.

Goh had previously run as a Workers' Party candidate in GE2015 for East Coast GRC.

Though ultimately unsuccessful, the academic eventually filled one of the opposition party's non-constituency member of parliament seats.

He did not run again in GE2020, citing health reasons, but continued to maintain his membership in the party.

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Top image Lim Weixiang and Mothership.sg