SINGAPORE, Nov 1 — Members of Parliament (MPs) are given significant freedom of speech but this "does not extend to communicating untruthful accounts, even if the MPs’ motives are not malicious”, Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh said today, in responding to an admission by his party’s MP Raeesah Khan that she had misled Parliament.

In a statement following an apology by Raeesah, the WP chief said she should not have shared the account of a sexual assault victim that contained untruths in Parliament by taking advantage of what is called "parliamentary privilege”.

Parliamentary privilege gives MPs the freedom to speak in the House without the possibility of being sued in a court of law, for example.

"Raeesah has apologised to the Singapore Police Force, victims of sexual assault, her constituents, the Workers’ Party members and volunteers, and her parents. She shared with me that she wanted to set the record straight in Parliament. This was the correct thing to do,” said Singh, who is also Leader of the Opposition.

On Monday, Raeesah, who is MP of Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), was referred by Parliament to the Committee of Privileges to investigate her alleged breach of parliamentary privilege, after she admitted to lying on three occasions in the House over a false claim over a sexual assault victim’s interactions with the police.

Raeesah’s original claim and her subsequent refusal to clarify details of the incident had caused a cloud to hang over the police and led to a lot of time and resources spent investigating her claims, said Leader of the House Indranee Rajah.

"Most of all — and this really is most distressing — what has happened does a great disservice to the survivors of sexual assault and rape victims,” said Indranee, invoking Section 100(7)(b) of the Standing Orders to refer the matter to the committee.

The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), which previously supported Raeesah’s decision to not share details of the sexual assault with the authorities, said in a Facebook post on Monday that it was "shocked and disappointed” at her fabrication, as well as her decision to share details about the case in Parliament without the survivor’s consent.

"Such behaviour only sets back advocacy around sexual violence in Singapore and does a disservice to other survivors, for various reasons,” said the advocacy group for women’s issues.

Aware added that Raeesah’s behaviour had played into the "persistent myth” that women frequently lie about assault, which has been used to discredit survivors of violence and allow perpetrators to escape accountability.

Said Aware: "Unfortunately, high-profile instances of untrue stories can disproportionately colour

The group added that it hopes Raeesah’s incident does not undermine efforts to deal with sexual assault more sensitively and effectively, stating that the issue is an important one that should continue to be debated and discussed in Parliament.

What comes next for MP Raeesah Khan

The Committee of Privileges, which is formed at the start of each parliamentary term, is made up of seven MPs and chaired by the Speaker of Parliament, who is presently Mr Tan Chuan-Jin. It is tasked to investigate complaints by MPs over alleged breaches of parliamentary privilege.

Today, Indranee, as well as Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam recused themselves from the privileges committee. Their vacancies will be filled by two other MPs.

Indranee recused herself as she is the complainant in this case, while Mr Shanmugam did so as his ministry has been involved in the case, Parliament heard.

WP’s MP for Hougang Single-Member Constituency, Dennis Tan is a committee member — parliamentary rules ensure that the committee’s membership reflects the balance between the government and opposition benches in Parliament.

The remaining four MPs on the committee are: Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, National Development Minister Desmond Lee, Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli, and Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Don Wee.

The committee produces a report at the end of its probe, which can recommend punitive measures against those who violate parliamentary privilege.

Being referred to the committee can result in heavy penalties. Under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, the House is empowered to: