Lying under oath a serious matter, parliament to deliberate response to Pritam Singh's conviction: Indranee Rajah

Parliament must take notice of Workers' Party (WP) leader Pritam Singh's actions and conviction, and the House will deliberate on an appropriate response in the next sitting in January 2026, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah said in a Dec. 17 statement.

This comes after the courts upheld Pritam's conviction in the Raeesah Khan case.

Calls WP disciplinary panel on Raeesah a "travesty"

In her statement, Indranee noted that Pritam himself has said he respected and accepted the appeal outcome "fully and without reservation".

She commented that lying under oath is a serious matter.

"In some countries, leaders who have lied, cheated or flagrantly broken the law still escape any legal or political consequences. We cannot accept such standards in Singapore," she continued.

She went on to rehash the court's findings and noted that Pritam testified to the Committee of Privileges and falsely stated on oath that he had wanted Raeesah to come clean on her lie in parliament.

She also pointed out that the forming of a disciplinary panel, comprising Pritam, WP Chair Sylvia Lim and Vice-Chair Faisal Manap, after things came to light was a "travesty", given how the three already knew about the lie months before that.

"And it was in fact Mr Singh who guided Ms Khan to continue with the lie. None of these facts were disclosed when the disciplinary panel was formed," the Leader of the House highlighted.

WP's internal processes

Indranee said that the WP has its own processes to deal with members who are untruthful.

Apart from Raeesah's case, Indranee also mentioned that of former WP Member of Parliament Leon Perera, who resigned after his past extra-marital affair with fellow WP member Nicole Seah came to light.

Indranee noted that Pritam said then that had Perera not resigned, he would have been expelled for falling short of party expectations.

On this point, Indranee said, "Ms Khan and Mr Perera were backbench Members of Parliament. Mr Singh is the Secretary General of the Workers' Party and the Leader of the Opposition."

She added:

"It is up to the Workers’ Party to decide what it intends to do in light of the court judgment (that he had lied under oath), and Mr Singh’s acceptance of the judgment, fully and without reservation."

Parliament to deliberate response

Indranee then referenced the courts' findings and Pritam's conviction and said that it served as a "solemn reminder" to all MPs to uphold the rule of law and maintain honesty and integrity in conduct.

"We cannot talk about having a First World Parliament or providing robust checks and balances unless MPs on both sides of the aisle hold themselves to high standards of conduct," she continued.

Indranee then said that it is necessary for parliament to "take notice" of Pritam's actions and the trial outcome and deliberate on an appropriate response.

"This matter will therefore be raised for discussion at the upcoming sitting of Parliament in January 2026," she shared.

WP response

Following Indranee's statement, the WP confirmed in a Facebook post that it has initiated the party's internal processes in light of the Dec. 4 High Court judgement.

It said that the party will give further updates on the matter in due course.

Top image via PMO YouTube, Mothership