Pritam Singh was appointed Leader of the Opposition after the 2020 General Election
A parliamentary committee in Singapore has recommended that Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh be referred to the public prosecutor for further investigations if criminal proceedings should be instituted on his conduct before a panel that probed his fellow lawmaker for lying in the House last year, according to media reports on Thursday.
The Indian-origin Singh, 45, is Secretary-General of The Workers' Party (WP) and Member of Parliament. He was appointed Leader of the Opposition after the 2020 General Election.
Media reports said that Mr Singh and WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap should be referred to the public prosecutor to "consider if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted", due to Mr Singh's conduct during the committee's probe and Mr Faisal's refusal to answer relevant questions.
The Committee of Privileges, chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, was looking into WP MP Raeesah Khan's conduct after she admitted on November 1 that she had lied in Parliament. This was over a claim that she had accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station where the victim was treated insensitively.
The committee comprises six other lawmakers from the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) as well as WP Parliamentarian Dennis Tan.
Mr Tan is a leading member of the PAP which has an absolute majority in the House.
The committee's recommendations are expected to be debated when Parliament sits next week, according to the media report.
The committee also recommended that Ms Khan be fined SGD25,000 for stating an untruth in Parliament on August 3.
She repeated the untruth on October 4, for which the committee is recommending an additional fine of SGD10,000.
In November, Ms Khan confessed in Parliament that she had in fact heard this anecdote in a support group she was part of, and had shared it without the victim's consent.
Ms Khan, 29, resigned as a WP member and MP on November 30, a mere 15 months after being sworn in as Singapore's youngest MP after the 2020 general election.
Under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, if any MP has committed an offence of dishonourable conduct, abuse of privilege or contempt, Parliament may impose penalties and refer them to any select committee for a new probe.
The committee this round decided to refer the WP leaders to a public prosecutor instead, rather than recommending a new committee of privileges, because a new committee may not uncover more evidence, the report stated.
The ruling PAP has 83 seats in the 104-seat House, WP has nine seats, with one vacant due to Khan's resignation, and Progress Singapore Party has two seats. Nine seats have been allotted to nominated MPs.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)