SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party said it would deliberate carefully a letter from Prime Minister Lawrence Wong stating that its leader Pritam Singh would no longer be Leader of the Opposition, and asking the party to nominate another elected MP for the role.
In a statement posted on its social media channels on Jan 15, the WP confirmed it had received the letter addressed to its central executive committee.
“We will deliberate its contents carefully through our internal processes and respond in due course,” the statement said.
Earlier in the day, PM Wong had announced that he would be removing Pritam from the role. He added that he hoped to receive the party’s nomination soon, so that the important position does not remain unfilled for too long.
He said: “Having considered the matter carefully, I have decided that Pritam’s criminal convictions, taken together with Parliament’s considered view of his unsuitability, make it no longer tenable for him to continue as the LO.”
He added that this was necessary to uphold the rule of law, as well as the dignity and integrity of Parliament.
The House had, a day earlier, endorsed a motion declaring Pritam unsuitable as the LO over his convictions for lying under oath. All 11 WP MPs present at the sitting voted against the motion despite Pritam stating that the party whip was lifted.
Pritam was convicted by the courts of two counts of lying to a parliamentary committee that was investigating former WP MP Raeesah Khan’s lie to Parliament. The High Court upheld his verdict in December 2025.
PM Wong noted in his statement that Pritam had said during the debate in Parliament that he disagreed with the court’s judgment, and had also maintained his innocence.
But the legal outcome was final and conclusive and must be respected, and given full effect in determining Pritam’s suitability for the role, he added.
During the three-hour debate, Pritam said that while he accepted the court’s verdict fully and without reservation, he was disappointed with the judgment and does not agree with it.
“A criminal conviction does not negate one’s right to assert innocence... In my case, my conscience will always be clear insofar as my conviction on both charges is concerned,” he said.
WP MPs who joined the debate, including Aljunied GRC MPs Sylvia Lim and Gerald Giam, questioned whether the motion was a political exercise and an attempt to further punish Pritam, who had already been sentenced by the court and paid his fines.
“I believe this motion today does not serve Singaporeans but is a party political exercise,” said Lim, who is WP’s chairwoman.
She also stressed that the WP had already formed a disciplinary panel to look into whether Pritam had contravened the party’s Constitution.
“The fact is that we have our processes, and the processes will take their course,” she said.
The WP had announced earlier in January that it would form the disciplinary panel. The party will also hold a special meeting about the matter after the panel is done with its work. This meeting was requested by a group of the party’s cadres in December.
In the letter to the WP’s central executive committee, PM Wong said the WP’s nominee for the role of LO should not have been implicated in the earlier findings of the Committee of Privileges, and must be able to meet the high standards expected of the office.
Leader of the House Indranee Rajah had said on Jan 14 during the debate that the court judgments have implications for Lim and Faisal Manap, citing findings that Khan had told Pritam, Lim and Faisal about her lie and said the leaders guided her to double down.
Faisal is no longer an MP, having not been elected in the May 2025 General Election. - The Straits Times/ANN
