GE2020: ‘WP should not ask voters to write it a blank cheque’, says PAP in statement about Raeesah Khan incident

This morning (July 6), the People’s Action Party (PAP) issued a statement about the Raeesah Khan incident, asking The Workers’ Party (WP) why she is still being “worthy of consideration as an MP”. 

Raeesah is currently under police investigation over alleged past Facebook posts for the offence of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion or race.

She has since publicly apologised and stated that she was aware that she had made improper remarks and would fully cooperate in police investigations. 

WP chief Pritam Singh has thrown his support behind Raeesah, saying he has no regrets fielding her in this year's general elections as she has the ability to connect and empathise with constituents, and that she would still continue to be a part of the WP team for Sengkang GRC. 

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PAP said in its statement: “The WP should state its stand on Ms Raeesah’s posts since she has admitted to making highly derogatory statements about Chinese and Christians.”

“This is a serious matter, which goes to the fundamental principles on which our country has been built.”

PAP also asked WP to make her posts public to “allow voters to make a clear assessment of her views, and her suitability to be elected into Parliament”. 

The party ended the statement saying: “The WP should not ask voters to write it a blank cheque in Sengkang or anywhere else it contests”.

Red Dot United’s (RDU) Liyana Dhamirah has also commented about the incident in a video posted on Red Dot United and her Facebook page. 

“We at RDU believe that race is everywhere….It’s unavoidable that many people feel strongly about it. However we will need to be mindful on how we speak up about it,” said Liyana.

“We are glad that Raeesah apologised. And we fully support Raeesah and WP.”

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Raeesah and her WP teammates He Ting Ru, Jamus Lim, and Louis Cha are standing for election in the newly-formed Sengkang GRC against PAP’s Ng Chee Meng, Lam Pin Min, Amrin Amin, and Raymond Lye.  

kailun@asiaone.com