Singapore Parliament passes motion against Pritam Singh over conduct

Singapore’s Parliament passed a motion expressing regret over Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh’s conduct and deeming him unfit to continue as Leader of the Opposition, following a lengthy debate. The final decision on his position now rests with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong

Singapore: Singapore Parliament on Wednesday passed a motion to express regret at Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh’s conduct and deem the Indian-origin politician unfit as Leader of the Opposition (LoP) after a debate lasting more than three hours.

The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) members of Parliament (MP) and nominated MPs voted in support of the motion, while the Workers’ Party (WP) MPs – 10 elected MPs and one non-constituency MP – recorded their dissent, reported the Channel News Asia.

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The vote came after a debate on a motion raised by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah, a veteran politician of the PAP.

At the start of the motion, Indranee said in her opening speech that Singh’s actions involved multiple lies and his conduct showed that it was a failure of leadership.

Emphasising the seriousness of the matter, Indranee, who goes by her first name, said that Singh’s misconduct “is not trivial” and involves “guiding a junior MP to do the wrong thing”, referring to the former WP MP Raeesah Khan.

Responding, Singh said he disagreed that his conduct was “dishonourable and unbecoming” of an MP, and that he disagreed with the guilty verdicts from the courts and the Committee of Privileges (COP), stating that “a criminal conviction does not negate one’s right to assert innocence”.

However, he said that he still takes full responsibility for not responding quickly enough to correct Khan’s lie in her speech in Parliament in August 2021. She has since resigned from the Parliament seat.

At one point, Singh sought to submit statements made to the police that were inadmissible in court, which had yet to be disclosed.

But this was rejected by Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng so as not to “impinge on the mutual respect and forbearance” maintained between Parliament and the judiciary.

With the vote passed, the decision on whether Singh remains as the LoP still lies with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, according to the Channel report.

Singh was first designated as LoP after the 2020 general election by then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He was again redesignated by Wong after the electoral contest in May last year.

Indranee, also of Indian descendant, had tabled the motion for the Parliament last week, calling on the House to consider that Singh’s “conviction and conduct render him unsuitable to continue as the Leader of the Opposition” and to express regret at his conduct, which was “dishonourable and unbecoming” of a member of Parliament.

The motion stated that the LoP is a position carrying important responsibilities, duties and privileges, and that the 49-year-old Singh’s continuation in the role “would undermine the standing of Parliament and public confidence in the integrity of Singapore’s political system”.

Singh, a Singaporean and a secretary-general of the Workers’ Party (WP), was convicted in February last year for lying to a parliamentary committee over the case of former MP Raeesah Khan.

Singh was sentenced to a fine of SGD14,000 (USD10,700). Khan resigned from the last Parliament in August 2021.

The PAP dominates the current Parliament with 87 seats out of the 97 seats. The Workers’ Party has 12 members, including two serving as non-constituency members of Parliament – for having garnered the highest number of votes among losing contestants.

Singh is the first LoP in recent history of Singapore, which the PAP has ruled since independence.