The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Workers' Party (WP) held an emergency meeting that lasted for two hours on Jul. 17, following the emergence of a video that suggested an "inappropriate exchange" between two WP members, reported Shin Min Daily News.
A total of 13 of the CEC's 15 members were present at the meeting, with the exception of Nicole Seah and Leon Perera.
This included former chief of the party, Low Thia Khiang.
The members who attended the meeting were:
- Pritam Singh (secretary-general)
- Sylvia Lim (chair)
- Ang Boon Yaw
- Chua Kheng Wee
- Foo Seck Guan Kenneth
- Gerald Giam
- He Ting Ru
- Nathaniel Koh
- Jamus Lim
- Low Thia Khiang
- Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap
- Dennis Tan Lip Fong
- Tan Kong Soon
The meeting started at about 9:36pm and lasted until around 11:28pm.
Pritam Singh: CEC deliberating on matter, will make announcement in due course
Following the conclusion of the meeting, Singh was quoted as saying that the CEC was still in deliberation and that an announcement would be made in due course.
In response to allegations claiming that he had prior knowledge of the matter between Seah and Perera, the Leader of the Opposition said he would give an explanation at a later date as well.
Lianhe Zaobao quoted unnamed sources as saying that Seah and Perera had been behaving intimately with each other since 2020, and party leaders were already informed about their behaviour as early as the beginning of 2021.
However, it is unclear if any action was taken.
The sources also added that Seah and Perera had begun communicating frequently in mid-2020.
In addition, the WP had also arranged for Perera to be Seah's mentor.
The sources also alleged that the video clip suggesting an "inappropriate exchange" between two WP members had already been circulated within the party at the beginning of 2021 and was likely shot in the same period.
Background
The aforementioned video was shared by a Facebook account on Jul. 17, belonging to a user named "Victoria Wang", who has eight publicly viewable posts on the page, including the video.
On the same day, the WP released a statement to the media, which read:
"The Workers’ Party is aware of a video clip circulating online today that suggests an inappropriate exchange between two senior Party members.
The Party is currently looking into the matter and will comment when we have the facts. The Party also expects all its members to fully own and account for their behaviour."
Top left image via Shin Min Daily News, right image via Victoria Wang Facebook page