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NCMP Leong Mun Wai says “the most important issue of the day” was not given “priority” after the Workers’ Party’s motion to improve fairness in Singapore’s criminal justice system was not selected in a vote.
Progress Singapore Party NCMP Leong Mun Wai speaking in Parliament on September 1, 2020.
SINGAPORE: Singapore Progress Party (PSP) plans to follow up on “failure of current parliamentary procedure” to prioritize “the most important issue of the day”, following the motion of Workers’ Party (WP) MP Sylvia Lim to speak about improving fairness in the criminal justice system was not selected for the next session of Parliament.
The PSP Non-Constitutive Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai made the comments in a Facebook post on Wednesday (September 30), after Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin announced on Tuesday that the Ms. Lim’s motion was not crafted during a random vote. .
Entitled Justice for All: Improving Fairness in the Criminal Justice System, Ms. Lim’s motion was intended to refer to “deeper issues” raised by the recent acquittal of former servant Parti Liyani.
READ: The Workers’ Party presents a motion to speak about fairness in criminal justice in the next session of Parliament
In his announcement Tuesday, Tan had said that Ms. Lim’s motion to stay was among five that were filed.
The other four who came forward were from MPs Louis Ng and Carrie Tan from Nee Soon GRC and Wan Rizal and Denise Phua from Jalan Besar GRC.
Mr. Ng’s motion for adjournment was selected to speak about secondhand smoke protection in our home.
Leong said in her Facebook post that with five submissions in all, Ms Lim had only “a 20 percent chance of being drawn in the voting process,” adding that “most Singaporeans would probably prefer that the Parti Liyani case is heard before secondhand smoke or any other issue raised by PAP MPs. “
“The failure of the current parliamentary procedure (standing order) to prioritize the most important issue of the day to be heard and prosecuted is another issue that we will pursue in the future,” said Mr. Leong.
READ: Sylvia Lim’s motion to speak on improving fairness in the criminal justice system was not selected, Louis Ng to speak in Parliament instead
“For now, we hope that the parliamentary issues that the PSP has raised separately will be fully addressed by the Minister of Law and Interior,” he added.
The questions are:
– Ask the Minister of the Interior if he would appoint a commission of inquiry made up of “members not affiliated with the Government” to carry out a public inquiry into the conduct of the police and the Attorney General’s Office in relation to the investigation and prosecution of former maid Parti Liyani
-Ask the Minister of the Interior if “an expedited trial process can be created for economically vulnerable foreign defendants.”
– Whether volunteer attorney fees under the Criminal Legal Assistance Plan (CLAS) can be increased to account for your contributions.
– Whether a Public Defender’s Office can be created to provide legal assistance to accused persons in Singapore, such as the Public Defender Service in the UK.
– Whether steps are being taken to strengthen the interpreter service in the Singapore Police in light of the findings in the case of Ms Parti.
“We continue to advocate that for the Parti Liyani case, which is of national importance, an Independent Investigation Committee be convened to independently investigate the case and recommend corrective measures,” said Mr. Leong.
He added that this would be “the only way” to regain public trust and confidence in Singapore’s criminal justice system.
