SINGAPORE – Singapore’s opposition Workers’ Party declined to name a new parliamentary leader on Wednesday, saying the position should reflect the will of voters rather than a nomination subject to approval by the prime minister.
Premier Lawrence Wong last week dismissed Workers’ Party chief and opposition leader Pritam Singh after his criminal conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee to protect a fellow party member under investigation.
Singh’s removal came a day after parliament voted to declare him unfit for the role.
Wong subsequently invited the opposition to propose a replacement.
Singapore remains one of the few democracies where the ruling party retains the authority to approve an opposition leader — a system critics say weakens the independence of parliament.
“The people’s vote explains the presence of opposition MPs in parliament,” the Workers’ Party said in a statement, adding that appointing an opposition leader was “not the prerogative or choice of the government of the day or the prime minister”.
“For this reason, the Workers’ Party has informed the Prime Minister that we will not be nominating another MP from our party for the Leader of the Opposition post,” it said.
Singh, 49, was convicted of lying to a parliamentary committee, with the High Court upholding the ruling on appeal in December.
Wong, whose People’s Action Party holds an overwhelming majority in the legislature, had reappointed Singh to a second term as opposition leader after last year’s general election.
The 2025 polls extended the ruling party’s more than six-decade grip on power. – AFP
