SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party (WP) disciplinary panel looking into secretary-general Pritam Singh’s conduct will be made up of Members of Parliament He Ting Ru and Jamus Lim, as well as former Hougang MP Png Eng Huat, CNA has learnt.
The revelation of the panel members sheds light on who will determine the political fate of the opposition party’s embattled leader, who was convicted last year of lying to a parliamentary committee.
The 2021 disciplinary panel that investigated former WP MP Raeesah Khan for lying in parliament was made up of Mr Singh, party chair Sylvia Lim and vice-chair Faisal Manap – all senior figures now implicated in the current controversy.
Parliament passed a motion last week agreeing that the High Court’s judgment on Mr Singh carried implications for Ms Lim and Mr Faisal, which would have to be considered separately.
Ms He serves as the party’s treasurer, while Associate Professor Lim is its deputy head of policy research. Both are MPs for Sengkang GRC. Mr Png, who was MP for the party’s Hougang stronghold from 2012 to 2020, left the party’s central executive committee (CEC) in 2022.
The inclusion of Mr Png is unusual, as such panels typically comprise only members of the CEC – the party’s top decision-making body – according to former and current party cadres. The composition of the panels is rarely disclosed publicly.
“In all past incidents, the panels comprised CEC members,” said one cadre, who asked not to be identified.
The cadre suggested Mr Png’s presence on the panel, despite not being a current CEC member, may be because he “lends some weight” as a former MP.