July 2023 Singapore MP resignations
The July 2023 Singapore MP resignations refers to the near-simultaneous resignations of four Singapore Members of Parliament — Tan Chuan-Jin and Cheng Li Hui of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), and Leon Perera and Nicole Seah of the opposition Workers' Party (WP) — over separate extramarital affairs disclosed within days of each other in July 2023. The overlapping timing, and in particular the same-day emergence of the Perera–Seah video with the PAP's announcement of Tan and Cheng's resignations, drew public and media attention to the coincidence, though no evidence has been established linking the two matters.
Background
Tan Chuan-Jin, Speaker of Parliament and PAP MP for Marine Parade GRC, and Cheng Li Hui, PAP MP for Tampines GRC, had reportedly been having an extramarital affair since at least 2020.[1]
Leon Perera, WP MP for the Serangoon division of Aljunied GRC, and Nicole Seah, the party's youth wing president and an MP for Jalan Besar GRC, had separately been having an affair that began after the 2020 Singaporean general election.[2] WP chief Pritam Singh said he had first been told about rumours of the affair by Perera's driver around late 2020, but that both Perera and Seah had denied it when asked directly.[2]
Timeline
17 July: video leak and PAP announcement
On the morning of 17 July 2023, a video began circulating online appearing to show Perera and Seah behaving intimately together.[2] That afternoon, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong held a press conference announcing that Tan and Cheng had resigned as MPs and from the PAP, citing concerns over "propriety and personal conduct"; Lee confirmed the pair had been having an affair since at least 2020.[3][1] The near-simultaneous emergence of the video and the PAP announcement was widely noted at the time as an "uncanny coincidence".[4]
18 July: AsiaOne driver interview
On 18 July 2023, AsiaOne published an interview with Perera's former personal driver, identified by the pseudonym "Tan" (later reported to be Frankie Wong), who had worked for Perera from 2010 to 2021.[5] The driver said he had witnessed Perera and Seah holding hands and speaking quietly together in the car on several occasions, and that he had raised the matter with fellow WP MPs before informing Singh around late 2020.[5] Other outlets, including The Online Citizen, questioned how AsiaOne obtained access to the driver within roughly a day of the video surfacing.[6]
Seah submitted her letter of resignation from the WP on the same day.[2]
19 July: WP press conference and resignations
Perera's resignation letter was received on 19 July 2023. At a press conference that day, Singh announced that both Perera and Seah had resigned from the party over the affair and their earlier untruthfulness when questioned about it; Singh said he would have moved to expel both had they not resigned voluntarily.[2] Perera also informed the Acting Speaker of Parliament that he was resigning his seat.[2]
Aftermath
Seah Kian Peng, PAP MP for Marine Parade GRC, was announced on 21 July 2023 as the Prime Minister's nominee to succeed Tan as Speaker, and was elected to the position on 2 August 2023.[7]
Because Aljunied GRC is a group representation constituency, and a by-election is only constitutionally required when all MPs representing a GRC vacate their seats, Perera's resignation alone did not trigger a by-election; the seat remained held by the WP's other Aljunied GRC MPs pending the next general election.[8]
In Parliament on 3 August 2023, Singh confirmed he had not personally interviewed Perera's driver, saying he had no corroborating evidence at the time he first learnt of the matter.[9] The driver, subsequently named in further reporting as Frankie Wong, gave additional interviews disputing aspects of Singh's account of how and when he was first informed.[10]
Reactions
Commentators and members of the public speculated on whether the timing of the PAP's announcement and the Perera–Seah video leak was coincidental. When asked directly, Singh said the question was on many people's minds but declined to speculate on a connection, saying he would leave the public to draw its own conclusions.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:Cite news
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Leon Perera & Nicole Seah resign from the Workers' Party due to untruthfulness over extramarital affair". Mothership.SG. (19 July 2023). Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Press Conference on the Resignations of Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui". Prime Minister's Office Singapore. (17 July 2023). Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Pritam Singh leaves it to the public to draw conclusions on the 'uncanny coincidence' of a viral video involving former WP MPs and PAP's announcement of an affair between two of its MPs". The Online Citizen. (19 July 2023). Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "'I tried to help him': What ex-driver knew and did about MP Leon Perera's alleged relationship with Nicole Seah". AsiaOne. (18 July 2023). Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "AsiaOne's quick access to Leon Perera's former driver: Coincidence or calculated move?". The Online Citizen. (19 July 2023). Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Aljunied Group Representation Constituency". Wikipedia. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Driver not interviewed about Leon Perera & Nicole Seah's affair: Pritam Singh". Mothership.SG. (3 August 2023). Retrieved 13 July 2026.
- ↑ "Leon Perera's ex-driver disputes Pritam Singh's version of events of how Pritam first learnt about Leon & Nicole's affair". Mothership.SG. (August 2023). Retrieved 13 July 2026.