PAP will not seek Pritam Singh’s suspension from parliament while legal proceedings are ongoing

SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party ( PAP ) will not seek the suspension of Pritam Singh as Member of Parliament ( MP ) while legal proceedings over his charges are ongoing.    

The Workers ‘ Party leader was charged with two counts on Tuesday ( Mar 19 ) for making false statements to a committee that was looking into Raeesah Khan, the former leader of his party, who lied in the House in 2021.

Given that Singh has been fully charged, the group has been receiving questions, according to PAP organizing director Ms. Grace Fu.

According to Ms. Fu, PAP MPs wo n’t be doing that and the organization wo n’t make any comments on the case’s merits because it is currently before the courts.  

“This is in line with parliament’s resolution to defer any sanctions in respect of Mr Singh’s, Ms Sylvia Lim’s, and Mr Faisal’s respective roles in the matter of former MP Raeesah Khan’s untruth, until after the conclusion of the investigations and criminal proceedings ( if any ) against Mr Singh, ” she said in a statement.  

This is also in line with PAP’s response to a movement made by Ms. Hazel Poa, a non-constituency member of parliament and the party’s secretary-general, in September 2023.

While” Parliament must offer rigourously with any MP who has done wrong,” suspending an MP is a critical activity that must be done in accordance with due process of the rules and healthy justice. Parliament does not influence the results of the trials. ”