The Workers' Party (WP) held a press conference on Jul. 19 to announce the resignation of two of its members -- Leon Perera and Nicole Seah -- after evidence of their extramarital affair came to light.

Here's a TL;DR of the whole thing.

When did the Workers' Party first hear of the affair?

Pritam Singh, the secretary-general of the WP, first heard news of the affair in late 2020 to early 2021.

This means that the affair started more than two years ago.

Perera's driver told Singh over WhatsApp that the pair were meeting at restaurants and hotels and were seen hugging and holding hands.

The driver did not provide any evidence.

Singh confronted Perera about the allegations, which the latter denied.

Several months later in 2021, the driver also told other members of the party, including Central Executive Committee (CEC) members, about the affair.

The CEC is the top decision-making body in the party.

When they approached Perera and Seah to verify the allegations, the two denied them.

With regard to the video of Perera and Seah behaving intimately in a restaurant, the WP first saw it on Jul. 17 when it was made public.

Could the party have done more to investigate the allegations?

Why didn't the party's leadership seek more evidence to corroborate the driver's allegations?

A political analyst told Straits Times that WP should have done a "thorough investigation" to verify if what the whistle-blower said was true.

Eugene Tan told CNA that there were still some questions unanswered.

“Did they not ask or interview the driver or did they just whisk it away attributing it to an aggrieved ex-employee of Perera?" he asked.

There are also other questions in terms of what WP can do more.

For instance, was there an investigation done in the first place in late 2020?

Also, why didn't they grill Seah and Perera further to ensure that there was no impropriety between them?

Singh clarified that there was no further action taken at that time because of two reasons:

1. There was no corroborating evidence to support the driver's allegations.
2. The driver was about to have his services terminated by Perera, which cast doubt on his claims.

Singh said that if there had been corroborating evidence, the party would have "done something different and confronted the members concerned, and perhaps even pursued other channels to corroborate that information".

What did the party do when they were made aware of the video?

"From the moment the party was made aware of the video, we moved as quickly as we could, bearing in mind that we needed to be fair to everyone get to the bottom of matters and put things right," Singh said.

He confronted Perera and Seah separately on Jul. 17.

Both then admitted to the affair.

They said it started after GE2020 but ended "some time ago". Singh did not specify when the affair ended.

However, he elaborated that Seah's loved ones were aware of it and she had been resolving the matter earlier.

When did Perera and Seah resign?

Seah and Perera submitted resignation letters on Jul. 18 and 19 respectively.

In his replies to Seah and Perera, Singh said their resignations were needed because the requirement for its members to be honest is "non-negotiable".

What would the party have done if the pair did not resign?

Even if the pair had not offered to resign, Singh said he would have recommended their expulsion because they were not honest about the affair.

What is going to happen to residents under Perera and Seah's charge?

During the press conference, Sylvia Lim, chairwoman of the WP, outlined plans for other MPs to cover Perera's meet-the-people sessions:

"Please let me assure, especially the Serangoon residents, that the party will use its best efforts to make sure that you're well cared for."

Will this incident affect trust in the Workers' Party?

With the resignation of Seah and Perera, the WP have lost two MPs in under two years.

In response to a question on whether the WP's screening process was flawed, Singh said the party tries its best to field candidates who can represent Singapore and Singaporeans, at the material time.

"However, you cannot legislate for what they will do after they become candidates," he said.

On whether the incident will erode Singaporeans' trust in the Workers' Party, Singh said the party gains the country's trust by being a "balancing force" in Parliament:

"I think Singaporeans expect the Workers' Party to hold the government to account to make sure that we don't have a one party dominant state that is overwhelmed or overwhelmingly in the hands of the PAP."

Top image: Screengrab from YouTube.