Indranee Rajah says no further action necessary against WP’s Sylvia Lim & Faisal Manap for lying under oath

Indranee Rajah states no action to be taken against Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap

In her ministerial statement in Parliament on Tuesday (7 July), Leader of the House Indranee Rajah stated that no further action would be taken against Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap.

The two Workers’ Party (WP) members had lied under oath in 2021. However, the case fell outside the legal time bar for punishment.

Given benefit of the doubt

Parliament’s Committee of Privileges (COP) found that Ms Lim and Mr Faisal played a “subsidiary” role and had also been “somewhat helpful to the committee, albeit in a limited way”, Ms Indranee said.

As such, Parliament deferred consideration of their cases until the court process surrounding Ms Khan’s case ended.

“Pending that process, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal were given the benefit of the doubt,” Ms Indranee said.

The court process continued past WP chief Pritam Singh’s guilty verdict, until the court struck down his appeal on 4 Dec 2025.

Ms Indranee stated that the High Court’s judgement “effectively confirmed” the COP’s findings.

PPIPA cannot punish offences due to timeframe

“In principle, if someone gave untrue evidence to a committee of Parliament, and did so knowingly or intentionally, this would be dishonourable conduct and a serious contempt of Parliament and would be dealt with under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act (PPIPA) 1962.”

However, Section 22 of the PPIPA states that Parliament can only punish offences committed in the preceding session or the last session of the preceding Parliament.

Singapore’s 14th Parliament was constituted on 24 Aug 2020 and closed on 24 March 2023. It reopened its second session on 10 April 2023, which lasted until 15 April 2025.

Ms Lim and Mr Faisal’s testimony before the COP occurred during the first session, in Dec 2021.

Mr Singh was convicted of lying on 17 Feb 2025, during the second session. His appeal then failed on 4 Dec 2025, after the end of the 14th Parliament.

The PPIPA thus only allows for punishments committed from the second session of the 14th Parliament onwards.

“As the conduct in question took place during the first session of the 14th Parliament,” Ms Indranee said, “it is no longer open to this 15th Parliament to impose any penalties in respect of this conduct under the PPIPA.”

Parliament need not take further actions against Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap

Parliament could pass a motion to signify disapproval against Ms Lim and Mr Faisal’s actions.

However, Ms Indranee stated that such disapproval has been made clear in January in the motion to deem Mr Singh unfit as Leader of the Opposition.

“Given the very specific circumstances of this case, it is my view that no further action need be taken by this House in relation to the committee’s findings against Ms Lim and Mr Faisal.”

Subsequently, Ms Lim stated that she did not object to Ms Indranee’s statement.

Also read: Pritam Singh re-elected as WP chief after cadre vote, but what exactly is a cadre?

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Featured image adapted from MDDI Singapore on YouTube.