{"id":27267,"date":"2026-01-10T03:23:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=27267"},"modified":"2026-01-10T03:23:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T19:23:37","slug":"could-singapore-remove-pritam-singh-as-leader-of-the-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=27267","title":{"rendered":"Could Singapore remove Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">In an unprecedented move in <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/singapore?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Singapore<\/span><\/a>, Workers\u2019 Party (WP) chief <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/pritam-singh?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Pritam Singh<\/span><\/a> could be stripped of his title as Leader of Opposition and lose his privileges when Singapore\u2019s parliamentarians debate his suitability for the role next week, legal experts say.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Singh was the first to be appointed to the official role in 2020 by then prime minister <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/lee-hsien-loong?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Lee Hsien Loong<\/span><\/a> after the <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/asia-elections?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">general election<\/span><\/a> that year, when the WP won a record 10 out of 93 seats.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">On Friday, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah tabled a motion for next Tuesday or later in the week, calling on parliament to consider that Singh\u2019s \u201cconviction and conduct render him unsuitable to continue as the Leader of the Opposition\u201d and to express regret at his conduct, which was \u201cdishonourable and unbecoming\u201d of an MP.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">This comes after Singh, MP for Aljunied constituency, was convicted on two charges and fined S$14,000 (US$10,879) in February last year for lying under oath to a parliamentary committee looking into a lie former WP MP Raeesah Khan told in parliament in 2021. His conviction was upheld on December 4 after he appealed against it.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cThe Leader of the Opposition is not a legal or constitutional office. It was created by parliament and can technically be removed by parliament as well. If parliament passes a resolution to strip Singh of the title, it will be done,\u201d Kevin Tan, a constitutional law expert and adjunct professor at the National University of Singapore, told This Week in Asia.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Benjamin Joshua Ong, assistant professor of law at Singapore Management University, said there was no established precedent on whether the title of Leader of the Opposition could be revoked. \u201cBut my instinctive view is that given the weight that the title now carries, any revocation should be done only through a motion which parliament votes to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/week-asia\/politics\/article\/3339351\/could-singapore-remove-pritam-singh-leader-opposition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an unprecedented move in Singapore, Workers\u2019 Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh could be stripped of his title as Leader of Opposition and lose his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}