SINGAPORE, Nov 2 — The Workers’ Party (WP) has formed a disciplinary panel to look into the admission made by Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan yesterday that she had misled Parliament over an account of a sexual assault victim. 

The party’s move comes a day after Raeesah’s apology in Parliament, when she admitted that she misled Parliament in August over a claim that she accompanied the victim to a police station, where the victim was treated insensitively.

In response, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah referred Raeesah’s conduct to Parliament’s privileges committee, which looks into any complaint alleging breaches of parliamentary privilege.

In a statement on Tuesday, WP said its central executive committee (CEC) had “approved the formation of a disciplinary panel to look into the admissions made by MP Raeesah Khan in Parliament on Nov 1, 2021, arising from an earlier speech made by the MP in Parliament on August 3, 2021”.

Advertisement

The panel comprises WP chief Pritam Singh, chairman Sylvia Lim and vice-chairman Faisal Manap.

Raeesah, who is MP for Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), initially cited confidentiality as the reason she could not provide further details of her account. On October 20, the police said they had been unable to identify the case of the rape victim whom Raeesah cited.

During her explanation on Monday, Raeesah disclosed that she was a survivor of a sexual assault herself and had heard about the alleged victim’s experience at the police station during a women’s support group of which Raeesah was a part.

Advertisement

“I did not share that I was part of the group as I did not have the courage to publicly admit that I was part of it. I attended the support group because I myself am a survivor of sexual assault,” said Raeesah in her statement to Parliament.

In its statement today, WP said its panel “will report its findings and recommendations to the CEC after it completes its work”.

“The work of the party’s disciplinary panel is separate from any decision the Committee of Privileges of Parliament may make,” the party added. — TODAY