Pritam Singh reviews WP's efforts in Parliament, aims to secure people's confidence & support ahead of GE

Pritam Singh, Leader of the Opposition and Secretary-General of the Workers' Party (WP), issued a New Year's message on Dec. 31, 2024, looking back at his party's work in Parliament and reflecting on its role in Singapore's political system.

"More stable arrangement"

He began by citing former President Tony Tan's memoirs, including Tan's view that Singapore is moving towards a "two-party system", which, to Tan, represented "a more stable arrangement".

Singh said the WP has played its part to promote a more stable political arrangement for Singapore, taking its parliamentary responsibilities seriously and raising matters including the cost of living and HDB policy.

He said that a Parliament with no elected opposition Members is "completely foreseeable", owing to the ruling PAP's "structural advantages", and said it takes a "significant effort" for the WP to grow its ranks, with a new generation of Singaporeans who are prepared to make sacrifices.

In his message, Singh said the party has been encouraged and energised by "the public’s acknowledgment of our parliamentary work as a loyal opposition".

"In 2025, we will continue to work hard and to secure the people’s confidence and support ahead of the General Elections (GE).

To all our residents, volunteers, supporters, donors and Party members, I welcome you to walk with us on the Workers’ Party’s journey towards GE2025 and play your part to build a more balanced and stable political system for Singapore in the years to come.

I wish all Singaporeans and friends of Singapore and your families, good health. Happy New Year!"

Workers' Party in Parliament

Singh took the opportunity to go over the Workers' Party record in Parliament in 2024, highlighting WP's participation in Parliamentary debates on bills and other matters.

He listed in order:

• Motion on Digital Safety (January)
• Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Other Matters (August)
• Debate on reforming the electoral boundaries review process (August)
• Platform Workers' Bill (September)

For the first two, Singh emphasised the contributions made by WP Members of Parliament during those debates.

Sylvia Lim, Gerald Giam, and Jamus Lim "advocated for stronger customer protections and measures to address the imbalance of power between blanks and customers."

They urged the government and businesses to "lead in loss prevention and equitable liability sharing", to safeguard consumer trust.

Singh referenced the "history-making money laundering case of 2023". He highlighted the contributions of He Ting Ru, Dennis Tan and Sylvia Lim, including suggesting oversight to include single family offices, fine art and cryptocurrency, and strengthening the AML compliance of banks, property agencies and other services if they are required to conduct their AML checks.

Electoral boundaries

In his debate speech on reforming the electoral boundaries review process, Singh said he outlined "how the current system historically advantaged the PAP through gerrymandering, and called for a reform of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC)."

He also mentioned Jamus Lim's suggestion that EBRC can produce "scientifically-supported voting district maps", using advances in mathematics, political science and economics, to use as "benchmarks to avoid gerrymandered outcomes."

In his response during the August Parliament sitting, Minister Chan Chun Sing emphasised that EBRC does not have access to voting information, and hence does not make its recommendation based on voting patterns.

He added that the EBRC does not consult the PAP or any other political party when making its decision.

Singh suggested that the EBRC be "more independent", such as being chaired by a high court judge, but Chan said that would only raise new questions about whether the new parties were impartial.

“I trust all my public service officers have, whether they are in the EBRC or not, for them to discharge their duties without fear and favour,” said Chan.

Allianz bid

Singh also referenced German company Allianz and its proposed bid for a majority stake in NTUC Enterprise's Income Insurance.

He Ting Ru and Singh "gave voice to key concerns" shared by Singaporeans before the Parliament session.

"These covered governance, financial management and controls in Allianz. We also sought assurances over the future of low-cost insurance products, Income’s social mission, and employment outcomes for Income staff."

Singh said WP was "stunned" when two months after this, like the "rest of Singapore" the government "made a U-turn" on the matter and gave MPs two days' notice for an amendment of the Insurance Act.

Jamus Lim questioned the lack of information sharing amongst public servants on the deal's true nature, and the delay in updating the public. He Ting Ru meanwhile expressed reservations on the "rushed passage of the bill", potential implications for "retrospective lawmaking" and the impact on legal and regulatory certainty.

Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat then responded that the bill does not affect any completed transaction and is not retrospective.

Chee, who is also Second Minister for Finance, clarified there was no formal application by Allianz at the time to obtain effective control and become a substantial shareholder of Income.

"The contractual terms of transaction clearly state that it is subject to regulatory approval by MAS. There is therefore no retrospective application of the law," Chee said.

WP abstained from voting for the bill, even as it supported blocking the deal.

Platform workers

Singh also referenced the debate over the Platform Workers bill in September, saying that the "question of whether NTUC operated with the best interests of workers in mind" surfaced.

The WP supported the bill, but Jamus Lim, Louis Chua and Singh himself raised issues like stronger protections for platform workers, like work injury compensation and retirement adequacy, as well as equitable cost-sharing and transparency from the platform companies.

Gerald Giam questioned how platform work associations, which must be formed under the NTUC, would be able to advocate for workers in a situation where "government policies conflicted with workers' interests."

This, Singh said, "drew strong attacks from Ministers and PAP back-benchers."

Heng Chee How, a PAP MP and a deputy secretary general of NTUC, asked Giam to give "due respect" to union leaders, adding that they are not "stooges", and their hearts are in the right place as they work for their fellow workers.

Minister Indranee Rajah acknowledged that a general election is drawing near and political rhetoric "ramps up," but asked not to put platform workers "in the middle of this."

You can see the full message and post below:

Top image from WP Facebook.