Analysts say the Workers' Party's decision reinforces the party’s MPs’ ongoing support for Pritam Singh. - Photo: MDDI
SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party declining Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s invitation to nominate another MP as Leader of the Opposition shows it has closed ranks around its chief Pritam Singh, said analysts.
The speed of the decision – coming less than a week after PM Wong removed Pritam from the post on Jan 15 – also reflects party unity and that it is “clear-cut” to the WP that the costs of taking the role outweigh the benefits, they said.
The opposition party had on Wednesday (Jan 21) said it is “unable to accept” PM Wong’s invitation, and that it takes the view that the leader of the largest opposition party in Parliament is the leader of the Opposition.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in response that the Government accepts the WP’s decision and that the office will remain vacant until the party chooses to nominate someone.
Independent political observer Dr Felix Tan said the WP’s decision was “hardly surprising” as it reinforces the party’s MPs’ ongoing support for Pritam.
On Jan 14, all 11 WP MPs present dissented during a debate on a motion in Parliament on Pritam’s suitability for the role. The House eventually voted to agree that he was unsuitable.
Nominating another MP as LO while keeping Pritam as party chief could also have created factions within the party, said Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore.
Agreeing, Dr Tan said the decision avoids turning the LO role into a source of internal rivalry.
The move is also a public signal that the party has managed to reach a decision quickly, even before internal party processes on Pritam conclude, said Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) senior research fellow Teo Kay Key.
It shows that there are “no compelling reasons for WP to accept the PM’s invitation”, said Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan. “That it was a clear-cut case for them.”
It also “gives us an indication that Pritam Singh will continue as secretary-general”, said Associate Professor Tan.
The party formed a disciplinary panel in January to investigate if Pritam contravened the party’s Constitution following his convictions for lying to a parliamentary committee. The WP has said this will take about three months.
The trade-off is that the WP may forgo certain procedural and symbolic institutional advantages that come with the LO position such as the right of first response in Parliament and the additional visibility, Dr Felix Tan noted.
Declining PM Wong’s offer is also a comment from the opposition party about the viability of the role in its current form, and is a critique on his decision to remove Pritam from it, analysts said.
IPS senior research fellow Gillian Koh said the WP has raised the issue of the status of the scheme to the detriment of the PAP and PM Wong.
Its decision also reminds the general public the reason for Pritam’s removal as LO – which could win sympathy for the party, or be to its detriment.
“Citizens want fair play especially where there is large imbalance in power between the dominant (party) and the rest, and the burden seems to rest on the PAP to prove that it has not overplayed its hand against the weak,” she said.
This is why WP’s trump card is still to “play the victim in this long-running saga”, she said.
“By not providing a nominee for LO, with its arguments about foreign systems of LO, it reminds citizens of this situation.”
In its Jan 21 statement declining the role, WP said the appointment is conventionally extended to the leader of the largest opposition party in Parliament, or decided by the opposition party in question.
The party cited other Westminster parliamentary systems where the title of the LO is established by law and “is not the prerogative or choice of the government of the day or the prime minister”.
The party’s refusal of PM Wong’s invitation could also prompt more discussion on the role and what it means for Singapore, Dr Teo said.
“It would also raise questions on whether it is a relevant position in its current form, and what the LO should be entitled to in that position.”
If the position is established by law, there would likely be more fixed rules on the criteria of who is a suitable LO, as well as more definitive regulations on the LO’s entitlements and expected contributions, she noted.
Even without a formal LO, the party remains the largest and only opposition party in Parliament with 12 MPs, observers said.
It is still in a similar position to before Pritam was first officially appointed to the role by then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after GE2020, Dr Tan said.
“Nothing of the structure of power has changed by any of these developments over the past weeks,” Dr Koh said.
Electorally, it is still early in the cycle, Dr Mustafa noted, and other issues may take precedence in voters’ minds by the next polls.
How the lack of an LO will play out in the House is still in question – and a big test is on the horizon.
Singapore is headed into the Budget season, Dr Koh noted. PM Wong is scheduled to deliver the Budget on Feb 12, following which MPs will debate the Government’s spending for the year.
It remains to be seen if in actual practice, WP’s role is diminished in any way by not having an LO and its privileges of the first right of response and extended speaking time, she said. - The Straits Times/ANN
