Parliament agrees to motion that Pritam Singh unsuitable as Leader of the Opposition, 11 WP members vote 'No'

On Jan. 14, the majority of Singapore parliament voted to support Leader of the House Indranee Rajah’s motion to consider Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh unsuitable to continue as Leader of the Opposition following his court conviction in the Raeesah Khan case in 2025.

All 11 WP members present recorded their dissent against the motion, save for WP non-constituency MP (NCMP) Eileen Chong, who was absent from the chamber.

Singh had earlier lifted the party whip on his party's MPs for this vote, stating that they could vote according to their conscience.

Failure of leadership

Indranee set out the motion against Singh in a 40 minute speech, during which she clarified that the motion does not seek to impose any penalties or sanctions on Singh under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act of 1962 (PPIPA).

The motion asked Parliament to:

• Affirm that honesty and integrity are fundamental pillars of Singapore’s parliamentary system,
• Note the findings of the High Court and COP,
• Express regret at Mr Singh’s conduct which was dishonourable and unbecoming of a Member of Parliament,
• Consider that such conduct renders him unsuitable to continue to hold the office of LO,
• Note that the High Court’s judgment and COP findings have implications for Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap, which have to be considered separately,
• Call on all MPs to uphold their solemn duty to respect and abide by the law, act with integrity at all times and honour the trust placed in them by Singaporeans.

She said that Singh had shown a “failure of leadership”, and that his conduct was “dishonourable and unbecoming of an MP”, adding that he had “fallen short of the requirements and standards expected of an LO”.

WP rebuts

The WP is the only opposition party in parliament, and four other WP MPs spoke up against the motion — Sylvia Lim, the WP's Chairperson; fellow Central Executive Committee (CEC) member Gerald Giam; MP Kenneth Tiong, and NCMP Andre Low.

Those who spoke broadly rejected most of the motion's resolutions, like Singh.

NMPs in favour

All nine Nominated Members of Parliament (NMP) voted for the motion, with three speaking on it — Kuah Boon Theng, Mark Lee, and Neo Kok Beng.

The three NMPs who spoke did so in favour of the motion.

Top stories MDDI/YouTube & Pritam Singh/Instagram