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SINGAPORE \u2013 After close to six hours in two meetings on June 28<\/span><\/a> where he faced his biggest leadership challenge to date, Workers\u2019 Party chief Pritam Singh emerged with a friendly wave and a broad smile to take questions from the media.<\/p>\n His manner relaxed and assured, he told reporters: \u201cBased on the vote of the special cadre members conference, I would say the party is pretty united.\u201d<\/p>\n Since he was voted in as secretary-general of the opposition party in 2018, <\/b>Singh had returned unopposed in every single party election.<\/p>\n On Sunday, he faced a vote of no confidence called by a group of the party\u2019s cadres, and another vote thereafter at the biennial party election where the WP chooses its leaders.<\/p>\n He survived the first with a supermajority and then returned unopposed as party chief.<\/p>\n Party sources say 82 of 106 cadres had voted for Singh to remain as WP\u2019s leader. Singh himself did not vote.<\/p>\n This was not what a group of unhappy cadres had hoped for going into the meetings.<\/p>\n They had signed a letter triggering the first meeting<\/span><\/a>, a special cadres conference, to hold Singh to account for his conviction over lying to Parliament.<\/p>\n But the inquisition they envisioned had reportedly fizzled out \u2013 party sources said that while Singh was questioned, some of those who stood up had also spoken in support of him.<\/p>\n The group had also lobbied for a challenger to step up, but could not convince anyone to do so in the end even with the effort under way until the week of the party conferences.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s outcome concludes the uncertainty that has hung over the party since 2021, following revelations that former Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan had fabricated an account of police mistreatment<\/span><\/a> of a sexual assault victim in Parliament.<\/p>\n The matter had gone before Parliament\u2019s Committee of Privileges, which found that Singh had played a part in Khan prolonging her lie<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n He was eventually charged and convicted in court of lying to Parliament, and the guilty verdict was upheld by the High Court in December 2025<\/span><\/a> on appeal.<\/p>\n This sparked a parliamentary motion where the House deemed Singh unsuitable to stay on as Leader of the Opposition (LO) following his conviction. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong subsequently removed Singh from the post<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Through all of this, the party\u2019s leadership was firmly behind Singh, refusing to nominate another WP MP for the role of LO<\/span><\/a> despite being given the opportunity to do so.<\/p>\n And while a WP disciplinary panel looking into his actions found that he had contravened the party\u2019s Constitution, the party\u2019s top leadership body issued him a formal letter of reprimand<\/span><\/a> for his infraction \u2013 a move that some observers have described as a slap on the wrist.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s votes show that whatever the party\u2019s cadres might think of the saga, they too have decided to close ranks behind their leader. This includes former party chief Low Thia Khiang. When asked by reporters ahead of the Sunday meetings, the veteran politician stated that he still supported Singh.<\/p>\n As the architect of the modern WP, Low\u2019s endorsement carries influence within the party.<\/p>\n