Singapore opposition chief Pritam Singh vows to ‘continue duties’ after pleading not guilty to charges of lying to parliament

Singapore’s opposition chief Pritam Singh pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday after being charged with two counts of lying to a parliamentary committee.

“Until the legal process comes to a complete close, I will continue with all my parliamentary duties and town council responsibilities,” he said in a statement after he appeared in court.

“When I first entered politics some years ago now, I was under no illusion as to the challenges that lay ahead in building a more balanced and democratic political system in Singapore,” he said, adding that it had been a “privilege and honour to be part of a Workers’ Party team that advances this cause”.

The Committee of Privileges recommended that Singh be referred to the public prosecutor after investigating Khan for lying in parliament in 2021, when she admonished police for being insensitive towards a rape survivor.

Khan had told parliament she accompanied a 25-year-old rape survivor to a police station several years ago, and the woman “came out crying” after the officer handling her complaint allegedly commented on the victim’s attire and alcohol consumption.

She later admitted she had not accompanied the victim to the police station and had misled the legislature. In her confession, she said she had taken the anecdote she used in parliament from a women’s support group she had attended, and did not have the victim’s consent to share the account publicly.

Khan was subsequently referred to the committee for breach of parliamentary privilege.

Singh had been called in as a witness, but was later found by the committee to have been untruthful during the hearings while under oath.

Following Khan’s November 2021 confession, the Singapore parliament, dominated by the ruling People’s Action