SINGAPORE, Feb 17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Singapore's opposition leader was fined 
Monday for lying to parliament while helping a fellow party member cover up a 
false witness account, but narrowly avoided being barred from contesting 
upcoming national elections.

Pritam Singh, 48, secretary-general of the Workers' Party, was found guilty 
on two counts of lying to a parliamentary committee probing a fellow MP.

The conviction comes as the Southeast Asian nation's struggling political 
opposition is seeking to challenge the overwhelming dominance of the ruling 
People's Action Party (PAP) in elections expected within months.

The PAP has ruled the wealthy city-state since 1959.

District court judge Luke Tan said that contrary to what Singh told the 
committee, he had not done enough to get rookie MP Raeesah Khan to admit to 
her lie in parliament.

The judge also gave credence to Khan's testimony that Singh had told her 
during a meeting to "take the lie to the grave."

Singh told reporters outside court that based on "advice I have and that I've 
been given, I will be running for the general elections."

"I have been advised that the law is quite clear," he said, adding he 
understood the elections department would release a statement later.

"It's not going to be an easy election... we'll have to fight hard, and 
that's what we will do."

Singh, who said he would appeal the court's decision, was fined Sg$7,000 for 
each charge.

"The path of choosing opposition politics is not for the faint hearted," 
Singh said.

Under the constitution, a person fined a minimum of Sg$10,000 ($7,400) or 
jailed for at least one year, is disqualified from running for election or 
holding a parliamentary seat for five years.

"He will not be disqualified as the threshold of $10,000 fine per charge is 
not crossed. You can't stack up the fines," Eugene Tan, who teaches 
constitutional law at Singapore Management University, told AFP.

- Lies in parliament -

Raeesah Khan who resigned from the legislature following the scandal, had 
admitted to making up a story she told in parliament about a female rape 
victim she accompanied to make a police report.

The former MP confessed that she lied when telling parliament in 2021 that a 
police officer supposedly made "insensitive comments" about the way the 
alleged victim was dressed and that she had drunk alcohol.

But Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam had said there was no record in the 
police files of such an incident and Khan eventually admitted to lying.

Singh was then accused of lying to the parliamentary committee investigating 
Khan.

He allegedly told the committee that he was not aware that Khan had made up 
the story about the rape victim, in an apparent attempt to downplay his 
responsibility as party leader, court documents said.

But the judge tore through Singh's credibility as a witness.

In the 2020 general elections, the PAP won 83 of the 93 seats at stake to 
retain its dominance.

The main opposition Workers' Party captured 10 seats -- four more than 
previously held -- in its strongest performance since independence in 1965.

Its leaders have said they hope to further increase the party's numbers in 
parliament in the upcoming elections, which will be new premier Lawrence 
Wong's first major political test.