Leon Perera and Nicole Seah, senior members of the opposition Workers’ Party have resigned from their positions after having an extramarital affair. The news was announced by WP’s Secretary-General Pritam Singh on July 19.
Perera, who is a member of parliament (MP) for Aljunied, has also resigned from his seat in Parliament.
Both are members of WP’s central executive committee (CEC); Perera is the head of the party’s media team while Seah is the president of the party’s Youth Wing.
“The constitution of the Workers’ Party requires candidates to be honest and frank in their dealings with the party and the people of Singapore,” says Singh.
“Leon’s conduct in not being truthful when asked by the party leadership about the allegations fell short of the standards expected of Workers’ Party MPs. This is unacceptable,” he adds. “Had he not offered his resignation, I would’ve recommended to the Central Executive Committee that he be expelled from the party.”
According to broadsheet The Straits Times, rumours of the affair began going around the party between late 2020 and early 2021.
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“I would like to request all Singaporeans both Leon and Nicole the space to heal and be with their loved ones. As you can imagine, this must be a difficult time for them,” continues Singh.
WP’s chair Sylvia Lim and MP for Aljunied GRC says that all the MPs in the GRC are “collectively responsible” for all the residents including those living in the Serangoon division.
She adds that the meet-the-people sessions at Serangoon, which Perera oversees, will go on as usual.
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“Aljunied MPs have already been rostered till the end of the year to man these sessions in Serangoon,” she says.
The MPs will also meet with the volunteers in Aljunied GRC to work out the rest of the details in terms of duties and groundwork.
