Prosecution grills Pritam on WP panel's 'conflict of interest', Pritam denies plans to fire Raeesah beforehand

On his second day of being questioned by the prosecution, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh once again found his integrity under scrutiny.

The morning of the trial's 12th day saw Singh defending his "sensitive" handling of the lie told by former Workers' Party (WP) member of parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan.

After lunch, he was questioned on the WP disciplinary panel formed to deal with Raeesah.

Potential conflict of interest

The WP's Central Executive Committee (CEC) was announced on Nov. 2, 2021, a day after Raeesah had come clean to parliament about her original lie.

The prosecution's argument hinged on the fact that Raeesah's general performance as an MP had been addressed in her first meeting with the panel on Nov. 8.

Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock argued that the panel had surfaced issues regarding Raeesah's performance to justify her removal from the party.

He questioned Singh's decision to be on the panel, despite having allegedly predetermined Raeesah's fate.

Former WP chief Low Thia Khiang had previously testified that both Singh and WP chair Sylvia Lim told him at a meeting on Oct. 11, 2021, that they planned to expel her from the WP.

When Singh was asked about this on Nov. 6 in court, he said, "I don't recall it in that way", but recalled that they had discussed whether the matter was one that would result in a member being expelled.

Ang also pointed out that there was potential conflict of interest for Singh to be on the disciplinary panel given how early he knew about Raeesah's lie, and given that he had acknowledged he should have been more proactive in following up with her.

It was to "protect" Raeesah

Ang noted that since Singh himself was a lawyer, he would have been "acutely aware" of issues relating to conflict of interest and pre-judgment of the issue.

Singh countered that he had wanted to keep the matter within the circle of people who had already been involved, considering that Raeesah being a sexual assault victim was a "sensitive" issue.

"It was just a way in which we wanted to protect her, actually," he said.

Both parties reached an impasse, and Ang chose to tackle the matter from another angle.

He asked if Singh had even considered asking Raeesah if she would be comfortable having other people be privy to the issue for the sake of the disciplinary panel.

Singh replied that the thought "never crossed his mind".

Upon hearing that, Ang remarked that Singh's thinking, or rather lack of, was "not normal".

Singh says Raeesah's fate had not been predetermined

As the grilling went on, Ang repeatedly suggested that Singh thought being on the panel despite having a conflict of interest was a non-issue.

Raising his voice, he sought confirmation from Singh, asking: "Am I right?"

"No, you're wrong," Singh shot back.

Singh indicated that the prosecution's statement was a moot point.

The way Singh saw it, he and Lim had never even discussed expelling Raeesah in the first place, and there was no conflict of interest.

While he could not speak for Lim, Singh said there had been "no pre-judgement" on his part.

Singh also denied telling the panel about letting former WP chief Low Thia Khiang know of the plan to expel Raeesah.

"Because there was no such plan," he stated simply.

WP MPs allegedly raised issues about Raeesah

As for why the panel had brought up Raeesah's performance as an MP during the meeting, Singh explained that "one topic had led to another".

Following the revelation of Raeesah's lie, "many party members" had raised issues about Raeesah, so he decided to expand his scope of inquiry to address them at once.

"It was just about channelling the feedback in an appropriate manner," he said.

Ang insisted that such feedback did not have anything to do with the lies.

But Singh countered that there was no way for the panel to know of the feedback's relevance beforehand.

The prosecution was not convinced.

"The truth was, Mr Singh, you wanted as many complaints to be brought to the panel because you and Ms Lim had already decided you were going to expel her," Ang stated.

But Singh maintained that Raeesah had undergone a fair disciplinary process.

Singh's cross-examination will continue on Nov. 8.

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Top image via Mothership