Raeesah Claims WP Leaders Told Her To Ignore Police Interview Requests
Though Ms Raeesah Khan has resigned as Sengkang MP, she still has to deal with the fallout from telling untruths in Parliament.
Over the last 2 days, the former MP had to attend a hearing that was convened to look into her actions.
There, she made a few allegations — including that the Workers’ Party (WP) leaders didn’t ask her to come clean in Parliament.
Raeesah Khan attends hearings over Parliament conduct
Ms Khan gave evidence to the Committee of Privileges (COP) during 2 hearings from 2-3 Dec.
It was set up to investigate a complaint made against her by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah, over her actions in Parliament during 2 sessions.
Specifically, that she had lied in her speech on 3 Aug, and in her replies to Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on 4 Oct.
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After the hearings, a special report was released to the public, detailing what she said.
You can read the 28-page document here, watch YouTube videos of the proceedings, or read on for some pertinent highlights.
Raeesah admitted lies to WP
On 3 Aug, Ms Khan told an untruth in Parliament, that she had accompanied a sexual assault survivor to the police station.
In actual fact, that didn’t happen — she actually heard an anecdote at a support group for survivors of sexual assault.
During the COP hearing, she said she admitted her lie to WP chief Pritam Singh on 7 Aug.
She also admitted this to Mr Singh, WP chairman Sylvia Lim and WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap on 8 Aug.
During a WP press conference on Thursday (2 Dec), Mr Singh said Ms Khan had stuck to her untruths in her communication with him.
However, she eventually disclosed “a number of new facts and disturbing personal revelations” to him, Ms Lim, and Mr Faisal after being repeatedly pressed.
WP leaders said no need to clarify lie: Raeesah
During this meeting on 8 Aug, Ms Khan said the 3 senior WP leaders told her there was “no need to clarify the lie”.
They also advised her to “continue with the narrative” she offered in Parliament on 3 Aug, she added.
After that, Ms Khan wrote in a text message to 2 others – her secretarial assistant and a WP volunteer – that the trio had agreed for her to “take the information to the grave”.
Raeesah not told to come clean in Parliament
Ms Khan was due to speak in Parliament again on 4 Oct.
The day before (3 Oct), Mr Singh visited her at home, she said, but again he didn’t ask her to clarify and state the truth in Parliament.
In fact, from what he said, Ms Khan claimed that she understood that he was advising her to keep on lying if the matter came up in Parliament.
Raeesah told untruth again on 4 Oct
On 4 Oct, Ms Khan again told an untruth in Parliament.
Upon questioning by Minister Shanmugam, she said her story on 3 Aug did happen but declined to give further details.
After this, she said she met Mr Singh and Ms Lim and neither of them suggested that she come clean in Parliament.
When Ms Khan later received emails from the police inviting her for an interview, she alleged that Mr Singh and Ms Lim told her not to respond to them.
Raeesah Khan advised to come clean on 12 Oct
However, on 12 Oct, the 2 WP leaders advised her to come clean and tell the truth about her lies in Parliament.
This was because they felt that the matter wasn’t going to go away, Ms Khan said.
Mr Singh and Ms Lim also told her that no disciplinary action would be taken against her, she added.
Subsequently, she finally came clean in Parliament on 1 Nov.
MP Raeesah Khan Apologises For Telling Untruth About Accompanying Friend To Police Station
However, she was “shocked and surprised” that a Disciplinary Panel was formed by WP on 2 Nov, and it was suggested that she resign.
Raeesah contradicts Pritam’s claims
During the press conference on Thursday (2 Dec), Mr Singh said Ms Khan was told to come clean on 4 Oct.
However, she “repeated an untruth on the parliamentary record” even though she’d previously told party leaders the truth, he noted.
The Leader of the Opposition also said that he wasn’t sure why she didn’t tell the truth in Oct when given the chance.
However, during the COP hearing, Ms Khan contradicted what her former leader said –Â maintaining that she wasn’t ordered to clarify the facts in Oct.
She also said nobody from WP advised her to tell the truth, but she was instead guided to keep up the false narrative.
Hope WP will answer allegations soon
After making allegations of a serious nature in Parliament, it seems Ms Khan has continued to do so — but this time against her former party.
Given that the special report was released near midnight, the WP hasn’t yet responded to her claims.
We hope they will answer them soon, as the public and their constituents will definitely want to hear it.
When they do, MS News will be sure to report on the latest.
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Featured image adapted from gov.sg on YouTube.
