No further action needed on WP's Sylvia Lim, Faisal Manap's COP conduct, given time bar: Leader of the House

No further action needed on WP's Sylvia Lim, Faisal Manap's COP conduct, given time bar: Leader of the House Leader of the House Indranee Rajah says she would have proposed a "different course of action" if the timelines were different. SINGAPORE: No further action is necessary by parliament against Workers' Party (WP) politicians Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap over their lying under oath, as the case falls outside a legal time bar, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah said on Tuesday (Jul 7). "Had the timelines been different, I would have proposed a different course of action," she told parliament while delivering a ministerial statement on a "determination" of the Committee of Privileges' (COP) findings on Ms Lim and Mr Faisal. Ms Lim is a sitting Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC. Mr Faisal lost his seat after contesting Tampines GRC instead of Aljunied in the 2025 General Election. "This outcome has happened because even though this House was entitled to act on the committee’s findings in 2021, it decided to give Ms Lim and Mr Faisal the benefit of the doubt for the time being," said Ms Indranee. She stressed that the time bar provisions of the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act (PPIPA) must be observed. This is even though the COP's findings were "effectively confirmed" by the High Court's judgment that WP chief Pritam Singh lied to the same committee, she added. Knowingly giving false evidence to a parliamentary committee is dishonourable conduct and a serious contempt of parliament, dealt with under the PPIPA, Ms Indranee said. "Ordinarily, if there is evidence someone has lied to a select committee, I would initiate the PPIPA process for dealing with such conduct," said Ms Indranee. But the Act sets limits. "In most cases, offences under the PPIPA can be dealt with fairly quickly and in the same session of parliament," she said. "Occasionally the offence may occur in one session of parliament but for whatever reason parliament may not be able to deal with it immediately, and it is dealt with in a subsequent session of parliament. "However, in the interests of finality, there are constraints on this." Under Section 22 of the PPIPA, parliament may only punish offences committed in the preceding session, or the last session of the preceding parliament. Singapore's 14th Parliament was constituted on Aug 24, 2020, and its first session closed on Mar 24, 2023. Its second session ran from Apr 10, 2023, until dissolution on Apr 15, 2025. Ms Lim and Mr Faisal testified before the COP in December 2021, during that first session. Mr Singh was convicted of lying to the COP on Feb 17, 2025, during the second session. "However, parliament rightly deferred consideration of Ms Lim’s and Mr Faisal’s cases until the court process had concluded," said Ms Indranee, referring to the appeal that Mr Singh filed at the High Court. That appeal failed when the High Court ruled on Dec 4, 2025 – by which point the 14th Parliament had been dissolved, an election held, and the 15th Parliament begun. "Under Section 22 of the PPIPA, this 15th Parliament can only deal with offences committed either in this session of the 15th Parliament, or during the second session of the 14th Parliament. "As the conduct in question took place during the first session of the 14th Parliament, it is no longer open to this 15th Parliament to impose any penalties in respect of this conduct under the PPIPA." Ms Indranee said this does not mean that parliament has no recourse on Ms Lim and Mr Faisal's lying under oath. "The House could, if it wished, pass a motion to express regret at such conduct. Such a motion would serve to signal parliament’s disapproval, as it did in Mr Singh’s case in January this year. "However, it should be noted that in the January motion, this House had already signalled its clear disapproval of lying to parliament or its committees." THE RAEESAH KHAN CASE The case stems from a false anecdote that former WP MP Raeesah Khan told in parliament in August 2021, alleging that the police had mishandled treatment of a sexual assault survivor. Parliament referred the matter to the COP after Ms Khan admitted to lying. Ms Khan testified to the COP that three WP leaders – WP chief Pritam Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal – told her to continue with the lie in a meeting in August 2021. In February 2022, the COP found that Mr Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal had lied under oath when they denied that Ms Khan was told to bury her lie. The COP said Ms Lim and Mr Faisal were untruthful "to a lesser extent" and played a "relatively subsidiary role" in the matter compared to Mr Singh. It recommended that parliament draw this distinction when considering any action against them. Mr Faisal was also referred to the public prosecutor for possible contempt of parliament after refusing to answer relevant questions by the COP. He received a police advisory. In February 2025, a district court found Mr Singh guilty of lying to the COP and fined him S$14,000. This conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal in December 2025. Ms Indranee later said the COP's findings that Ms Lim and Mr Faisal had lied under oath were "borne out by the court judgments". In January, parliament backed a motion expressing regret at Mr Singh's conduct and deeming him unfit to be Leader of the Opposition. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong subsequently removed Mr Singh as Leader of the Opposition and invited the WP to nominate another MP to the role. The party declined. The WP issued a formal reprimand to Mr Singh as part of its internal disciplinary process. On Jun 28, he survived a secret vote on his leadership of the WP and returned as secretary-general with a reported supermajority of the vote. Ms Lim and Mr Faisal were also re-elected to the WP's central executive committee, where they serve as chair and vice-chair respectively.