Member-only story
Since Raeesah Khan (RK) admitted to lying in Parliament on 2 November 2021, about details of a sexual assault case she alleged was mishandled by the police, both the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and her own Workers’ Party (WP) have been in crisis mode — any punishment the Committee of Privileges (CoP) or the WP’s Disciplinary Panel (DP) metes out will be scrutinized and politicized.
As a communications professional, I believe that reaching a “just” outcome will require the CoP and the DP to set aside political considerations and deal with the specific question of what is an adequate punishment for the actions of RK. Conflating the two will not only be unfair to RK but will also complicate an already complex case.
For the CoP, Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin will be thankful that their job of determining an adequate punishment will be made easier because of past precedence. According to records, the last MP referred to the CoP was former WP leader J.B. Jeyaretnam (JBJ). Between 1982 and 1986, during his term as Member of Parliament for Anson, JBJ had four complaints made against him ranging from a failure to declare a direct personal pecuniary or financial interest in matters he represented as a lawyer, to accusing the Government and the Police of tampering with the judiciary and abuse of powers, and for publishing distorted reports of the CoP’s…
