WP confirms receipt of request by cadre member for special conference, party’s CEC to follow up

SINGAPORE - The Workers' Party leadership is looking into a request from a cadre member to hold a special meeting.

The opposition party said in a statement on Dec 28 that a request to hold a special cadre members' conference was submitted.

Party chairwoman Sylvia Lim has acknowledged the request of the cadre member, added the WP, which was responding to a media query.

The central executive committee (CEC) — comprising 19 members, including its 13 elected MPs — will be following up on the request in accordance with the party's Constitution, it said.

The party's Constitution on its website states that a special cadre members' conference can be called at any time by the party's chair, the CEC, or 10 per cent of the cadre membership or at least 20 cadre members, whichever is higher.

Past estimates of the number of WP cadres have reported the figure as at about 100. Only cadre members, who are appointed by the CEC, can be present at cadre members' conferences and to vote.

It is not clear if the request was put forward by a sufficient number of cadres.

This special conference is separate from the usual cadre members' conference held at least once in two years, where the CEC is typically elected.

The Constitution also says that if a conference is called, the party's secretary-general will send notices to all cadre members one month before the day fixed for the cadre members' conference, informing them of the date, time and place of the meeting.

The secretary-general will also inform them of the agenda and resolutions tabled for discussion when possible.

This comes ahead of a January discussion in Parliament on the appropriate response to WP chief Pritam Singh's conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee.

Leader of the House Indranee Rajah had also said that Mr Singh's conviction has implications for party leaders Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap. This will be part of the upcoming discussions in Parliament, which will convene on Jan 12.

Now that Mr Singh's court case has concluded and he has been found guilty of lying, these matters will be raised for discussion, Ms Indranee said in a statement on Dec 22.

On Dec 4, the High Court upheld Mr Singh's Feb 17 conviction on two counts of lying to the committee of privileges (COP), which included a $14,000 fine.

The COP had in February 2022 released a report which said the "appropriate sanctions" for Mr Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Manap for their roles in former WP MP Raeesah Khan's untruths to the House and to the COP would be deferred until the end of investigations or criminal proceedings against him.

Mr Singh's trial began in October 2024, and he was later found by the courts to have lied to the COP on two key issues: On whether he had told Ms Khan to take her lie to the grave, and what he meant when he told Ms Khan that he would not judge her.

WP said on Dec 17 that it had started the party's "internal processes" in the light of the Dec 4 High Court judgment.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.