Pritam’s political seat is very safe
March 23rd, 2024 | 
Author: 
“No one should go away thinking that (Singh) will be disqualified as an MP, or disqualified from running in an election. I am not saying it is a guarantee but he is not under any real risk,” so says constitutional law expert Kevin Tan.
This is because the charge he faces for lying to a parliamentary committee carries a max fine of $7000 or jail term of up to 3 years, or both. But to be disqualified, the fine per charge has to be not less than $10k (or be sentenced to jail for not less than one year). Pritam is safe.
So you can stop holding your breath. Breathe easy. WP would still be in the running for the coming GE, possibly end of this year.
But from this saga, which took more than 2.5 year to unravel (from 3 Oct 2021 to March 2024), I have learnt three lessons, two of which are about lies and the last one is about politics.
1) A lie cannot be buried if it smells.
This all started with a lie. Ms Khan gave a speech on 3 Aug 2021. She said she had three years ago accompanied a rape victim to the police station. She said an officer made inappropriate remarks about the victim.
It however took her nearly three months (1 Nov 2021) to come clean about it, that is, she had lied. Before that, she repeated the lie on 4 Oct 2021.
You hope that a lie would go away, but at times, it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, you are often cornered. That is where you feel the heat up your spine. The stench is often compounded. You are thus forced to cave.
A lie like that would definitely smell. It made serious allegations. It is made in a serious setting, amongst parliamentarians. And it forces one to investigate because trust and credibility are at stake, especially concerning an allegation coming from one’s political opponent.
2) The best time to uncover a lie that smells is when you first catch it.
I trust such lies are like gremlins. They look harmless, even adorable. You want to keep them as pets, close by your side. But there is a catch. They simply refuse to lie down, play dead and be buried.
Gremlins know your soft buttons, just like a lie. It’s a spiralling trap, because you often have to cover a lie with a lie. And they all add up. Once they do, the consequences can be far worse.
Coincidentally, gremlins are extremely photosensitive, just like a lie kept as pets. And this quote explains it, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
Lies are like rodents in the attic. In the dark, they come out to play. But once you open the door, and flood in the lights from the hallway, they scamper for their dear lives. By then, it’s too late.
And,
3) In politics, nothing is what it seems.
After witnessing the rise of Trump, I have come to see virtues as more of a means to an end rather than an end in itself. This is not new, but for it to happen in your lifetime and so blatantly, it makes you sit up and wise up.
The judge has to decide for Pritam’s case, that is, did he ask Ms Khan to bring it to the grave or did he give her a long runway to come clean, amidst repeating the lie in October? In other words, is this case where one keeps a gremlin or simply offers grace?
Bottomline is, Pritam may very well walk out of the courtroom with more votes than less.
Perception is not necessarily based on truth. We are often more beholden to a personality, or what he or she represents, than veracity. The former (personality) is so much more relatable (and believable) than the latter (veracity).
You may say that we are entitled to our own opinions but not entitled to our own facts. Yet, when a country is seriously divided, what matters in politics is the former not the latter.
But I guess we have to confront the times, by anchoring our center on all things that matter, without running blindly around the periphery.
Micheal Han
Posted in 
No one could believe politicians are going to be little angels who go to strident effort to keep them or anyone honest in the future, nor would it end anyone’s career. That is really the point: no one expects them to tell the truth, or to be consistent, or blames them for not doing so.
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ALL politicians lie, it is in their job description.
The only difference being small harmless lie or big lie.
For example, Orchard Road kenna flooded with 1m of water is just “ponding”.
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If he gets a jail term of 3 years, that’s the end of him for the coming g.election.
A long five years later, who knows what would happen? Maybe, the new WP leader would expel him, a convicted and jailed person?
Tech: Unless the presiding judge is under instructions, Pritam will not get 3 years even if he is convicted. Although judges in Sinkieland are given huge leeway, there are still sentencing precedence to adhere to, give and take 5% – 10%. As a 1st offender, Pritan is likely to get fined, IMHO.
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@No sense
Fine-wise, Pritam can’t be disqualified for the max fine per charge is only $7000, way short of the required $10k that is needed to bar Pritam.
However, since Pritam is contesting the charges, the prosecution can proceed on all 3 charges without TIC. That means that if Pritam is convicted, the sentence for each charge is max 3 years.
So if the judge wants to be nasty, he/she can sentence Pritam to 4 months in jail for each conviction, to be served consecutively, i.e. total jail time of 12 months. That would disqualify Pritam from his MP seat and all future elections.
Now I am not sure if Kevin Tan meant 1 year per charge or jail time can be combined, but if it is per charge, then it would not disqualify Pritam unless he receives a 1 year sentence on 1 of his 3 charges.
Maybe someone in the know can help clarify?
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Even if he is jailed for a short 2 months or even 1 month, he could miss the coming GE. Nobody in prison gets to be a candidate in the GE.
Assuming WP win a SMC, will WP want to ask the MP to step down, hope for a byelection and hope P can win? Probably not. So P will be out for 5 years.
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Well,P$ is their “Erected” Oppo LEEder.
This is part and parcel of the Wayang.
The $how must go on.
For others more genuinely vocal,they got POFMA for telling TRUTHS that were merely accompanied by mistaken examples(cases).
Hey,P$,keep on lying.
Keep on “CO-DRIVING”.
We will keep CONNING .
“Together,PAP N WP”,
We keep keep wayanging.
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PAP know they are in difficulty this coming elections. Issues like inflation, new PM, new mps and so on are going to cause them many votes big time. Bad image is done with all their old mps stupid acts and policies.I think it is a election plan to kick out strong opposition to win this coming election. Many people know about this, those who refuse to admit are the ones who cannot accept reality. Reform party top leader, people’s voice top leader, PSP top leader and now worker party top leader are all charged with pofma and telling lies. So many opposition top leaders lied and caught during this period of time, it is hard for people not to overthink. 70% of the voters vote for this political opponent fixing. Singapore will not progress with political opponent fixing. We all hate this type of people at working environment, people who do not do real work and spend time fixing opposition. I think Singapore is finished and we have to thank 70% for this.
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Lim Chin Siong and gang (fixed)
:
:
J. B. Jeyaretnam (fixed)
Tang Lian Hong (fixed)
Chee Soon Juan (fixed)
:
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Sylvia Lim (attempted fixing)
Low Thia Khiang (attempted fixing)
Lim Tean (fixing)
Pritam Singh (fixing)
:
:
Did I missed out anybody from the above list? Maybe: Citizens (3 generations fixed, 4th fixing)
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@No sense
Yes, if the conviction is timed correctly, Pritam can be ‘fixed’ to miss the coming GE to force him to sit it out.
However, Pritam is a lawyer, I think he knows how to ‘fix’ the ‘fixing’.
But then IMHO, Pritam is not exactly the ‘main attraction’ in the Wayang Party, had it been for LTK or maybe even the one that loves football, I would say it may affect the party significantly.
The main attraction in the party currently should IMHO, be Jamus and not him. I would add in maybe even Nicole, but unfortunately she inadvertently forgot to declare to Pritam that she was bonking her party mate. Had she declared, and WP being so like to follow the lightning-style, would probably give her 2 years to ‘sort things out’ like the exercise former speaker.
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Your moniker on election coming is correct. You are also correct on the games that they play because they give up their conscience for cushy seats.
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Looks like PAP is losing their winning streak.
See you at the next horse race in 2025.
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Maybe the AGC and the legal experts are pushing the state court to do the legal fixing. By finding Pritam Singh quilty of the two charges and fine PS more than $7k for any one of the charge minus jail time. That would be enough for PS to say bye bye to Parliament and the next GE around the corner.
The legal expert can claim the AGC’s intention was not to remove Pritam Singh from parliament because the DPP is asking the State Court to fine PS $7k or less for any one of the two charges and no sentence to jail.
The legal expert will then conclude nobody can tell the judge what to do. When in fact they are doing exactly the opposite trying to influence the judge to find PS guilty of the two charges and then dictating the amount of fine to impose on PS.
Since the COP had decided to subject PS to a court of law. The Judge will decide on the legal merit of the case with no fear or favor. The Judge will have no reason to say this is political and I will leave it to the government of the day to do the right thing or say something similar to this.
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@Nathan
Pritam can be fined the maximum of $7000 per charge on all the 3 charges, he will still be safe, UNLESS Protam is jailed a year or more on ANY of the 3 charges he faced for “to be disqualified, the fine per charge has to be not less than $10k (or be sentenced to jail for not less than one year)”.
However, I am not sure for jail term, this expert Kevin meant per charge exceeding 1 year or combined jail term exceeding 1 year.
Anyway, Pritam is a first-timer, he is likely to be fined. So I would opine Pritam’s a$$e is very very safe.
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Ever wondered what would happen if one loses power?
Answer: You crash head on with a bridge, destroying it and someone else have to pay for it.
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Hello, Inspector @ TRE where is my posted in the early hours of 3 am? Hahaha. No need to delay any more,just don’t publish.hahaha. I discovered some unforgivable errors today.No need to publish. Consider as censorship. Thank you for your cooperation.
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If P$ kena jialat-jialat like jail,LeeAhLong will lose more face.
He Erected P$.
P$ will just get a fine,don’t care how much,still less harm done.
But P$ should volunteer to step down lah.
How can there be anymore moral standing left?
Punish others for lying but not oneself.
Anyway,no great loss except $16K lo$$ each month leh?
Time for “REAL” OPPO COALITION AND “ELECTED” OPPO LEADER.
WHY SO MUCH PERSONAL EGO IF TRULY WANT TO “SERVE” ordinary Singaporeans?
UNITE AND FIGHT AND WIN BIG!
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Don’t miss an important point here. The presummation that Pritam Singh will be found guilty of the two charges by Mr AG and the Establishment legal experts. Mr AG and Constitution experts are putting the cart before the horse talking about fines and jail sentence. Almost as though signaling to the sitting judge PS must be found guilty and fine less than $10k per charge for the two charges and if jailed the sentence to be less than a year to enabled Ps remains in Parliament. Are the AGC and the legal experts magical thinkers? To think the Judge’s ruling will be scripted according to the whimps of the AGC and the legal experts. It must be based on rule of law and the circumtances of the case.Glad that PS is no magical thinker and is not taking Mr AG and kelvin Tan at face value. Going to Court not to settle for anything less but to absolved himself to be above those clowns in the COP, now telling anyone who cares to listen their intention is not to fix the WP opposition leader Pritam Singh.
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@Nathan
You are jumping the gun and missing the point here.
No one here is saying that Pritan is guilty as alleged. We are just discussing the possibility that IF Pritam is guilty, what can/may happen.
It’s just a hypothetical discussion.
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The PAP have already lost when they charged PS. As WP will see a swing of increased votes either way. As the PAP have a long list of lies or coverups that the Opposition will highlight.Please add on to the list below:
1. TJC’s affair over a period of time with a fellow MP while remaining as Speaker io the House.Kept secret by LHL.
2.Refusal to charge the six KOM executives.Reason could be to not expose the CEO
3.Charles Chong’s lies of TC’s fees that went missing but were all accounted for after elections.
4 The hiding of the death of 8 patients due to hepatitis by GKY.
5.The hiding of the Conflict of interest in the Ridout saga.
etc.etc
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You go and tell the judge it is just a hypothetical discussion. He will say it just hypothetical contempt of Court and hypothetical sub judice. When he sends you to the puppy-house there will be nothing hypothetical about it. Most of us here are not lawyers, nor are we pretenders, however we have been doing this long enough to know even insignificant people will kena if he runs out of luck, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and wrong place. Perhaps pre trial is ok? Certainly, ok when the trial had concluded. Certainly not when the show is ongoing. So, editor, I am asking you is pre-trial comments hypothetically, ok.
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For years, cannot win back the team constituency, so must find a new way to trap them. So, at last the party get caught. This is part of the game, the fixing game !
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@KT2
They forgot the audience is different. Play the same fixing game may have had an applause during LKY’s time but today most find it repulsive as it is dishonest and lacks integrity. It is also human nature to side with the underdog. So PS and WP actually gain much because of the 9 hour interrogation they had to endure which voters will remember, thanks to the PAP.
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Stop the BS.
TRE readers are right about Pritam.
He is just a PAP’s co-driver.
Instead of wasting time,3GEs are enough time for WP to be a solid real opposition at AJ.
What has PS done?
Zilch.
Let a more solid oppo take over.
PSP will be more genuine.
PS can go and bedek elsewhere.
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