1. Mr Pritam Singh has admitted that what he had said during the GE campaign and in Parliament on 14 Oct were inaccurate.
2. It was inaccurate to say that “there was no indication that [Mr Deros] would be joining the meeting” or that Mr Deros had “gate-crashed” the meeting. Mr Noor Deros was invited, and Mr Faisal Manap was informed beforehand that Mr Deros would be attending. That is not “gate-crashing”.
3. It was also inaccurate to say that Mr Deros was someone “who really no one knows”. Because as we have now been told, Mr Faisal Manap did know Mr Deros.
4. These inaccurate statements were conveyed to voters during the GE and were repeated in Parliament.
5. It has taken many months for the clarifications to emerge.
6. They might not have done so if Mr Deros himself had not publicly refuted Mr Singh’s account of what happened, calling it “irresponsible”.
7. I am glad that Mr Singh has now clarified the matter.
8. But it would have been better if Mr Singh and Mr Faisal Manap had cleared the air much sooner and not allowed Singaporeans to be misled for so long.
9. Mr Faisal Manap is not an ordinary WP member. He is the Party’s Vice Chairman and a member of its CEC.
10. All parliamentarians, and all political parties, have a responsibility to uphold high standards of integrity in our politics and political discourse.
