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Leader of the House Indranee Rajah said in Parliament on Apr. 18 that it "does not appear that there is need to take further action" against Leong Mun Wai, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).

This was after Leong apologised to Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and withdrew various statements in his Facebook post published on Mar. 20.

Background

On Mar. 20, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam replied to Leong's question about why Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, had been named publicly.

After the parliament session, Leong, recently appointed secretary-general of PSP, published a Facebook post questioning statements made in parliament by Shanmugam.

On Mar. 22, Shanmugam raised Leong's post in parliament, saying that statements made by Leong in the post constituted an abuse of parliamentary privilege.

In the ensuing debate, Leong and Shanmugam sparred vigorously and, at one point, referred to the six individuals involved in the Keppel OM case, saying they had all been found guilty.

Shanmugam corrected this, and Speaker asked Leong whether he was prepared to withdraw his statement about the six guilty individuals, to which Leong replied,

"If Minister didn't ask me, I suggest you don't ask me."

This prompted Indranee to remind MPs to "conduct themselves in a Parliamentary manner and the tone in which we address one another is important". 

@mothershipsg NCMP Leong Mun Wai apologised to the Speaker for his remarks #sgnews #tiktoksg ♬ original sound - Mothership.sg

Apology and amendments

Leong would subsequently apologise to the Speaker for how he spoke to him and later would amend his Facebook post in reference to some of the issues raised by Shanmugam in parliament.

Indranee, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said on Apr. 18 that Leong's apology to the Speaker, his withdrawal of various statements made in his Facebook post, his clarification that he had not intended to cast aspersions on ministers, and admitting that he was wrong to make certain suggestions in his statement meant that there was no need to take further action on the matter.

Indranee and Tan took the opportunity to remind MPs about issues of procedure in parliament.

Indranee issued a handout that reminded MPs of the need to respect the authority of the chair and to refrain from making allegations which cannot be substantiated.

She reminded that MPs should also refrain from making statements outside of parliament which reflect on

"the character of the speaker or any member in their parliamentary duties or roles which falsely or scandalously defames the proceedings or the character of Parliament or which contain false reports of parliamentary proceedings."

As Leader of the House, Indranee is responsible for "proposing appropriate actions to be taken on any procedural matters arising in Parliament".

Tan said he was committed to being inclusive and expansive in providing the space for debate for all 103 members but that members should respect the chair and other MPs.

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Top image via MCI/YouTube