Singapore's LoP loses appeal against conviction for lying to parliamentary panel

Singapore, Dec 4 (PTI) Singapore's Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh on Thursday lost his appeal against his conviction for lying to a parliamentary privileges committee.

The 49-year-old Indian-origin secretary-general of the Workers' Party (WP) was convicted in February in connection with the case involving former party member Raeesah Khan, who had admitted to making untruthful statements in Parliament. Khan later resigned from Parliament.

High Court judge Steven Chong on Thursday upheld the district court's decision to convict Singh. Singh was fined the maximum SGD 7,000 (USD 5,400) for each of the two charges.

The fines, imposed separately, remained below the SGD 10,000 threshold that would have disqualified him from contesting this year's general election held on May 3.

Reacting to the verdict, Singh said he was disappointed but accepted the judgment.

“While I am disappointed with the verdict, I respect and accept the judgment fully and without reservation,” Channel NewsAsia quoted him as saying.

The WP holds 12 seats in the current Parliament, including two non-constituency MPs.

The ruling People's Action Party (PAP), in power since Singapore's independence in 1965, holds an absolute majority with 87 of the 99 seats in the Parliament. PTI GS SCY SCY