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Pritam Singh says he has no aspiration to be Singapore’s Prime Minister

Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh has stated that he has no aspiration to be Singapore’s Prime Minister (PM).

Mr Singh was speaking to former Malaysian health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and former UMNO information chief Shahril Hamdan on their political podcast ‘Keluar Sekeja’.

When asked point-blank by Mr Khairy if he aspired to become PM, Mr Singh simply said “no”.

Source: Keluar Sekejap on YouTube

“We all have a role in our minds and in our heart of hearts. And I think my role is to normalise the idea of an opposition in Singapore,” he stated, adding that he hopes to bring more “like-minded people” on board.

The Leader of the Opposition (LO) also stated that it is his life mission to ensure Singapore has an “effective parliamentary democracy”.

The podcast, uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday (24 June), featured Mr Singh and the hosts discussing a wide range of political issues. These included his personal beliefs, the role of the opposition in Singapore, as well as the WP’s goals.

WP’s work mostly on a small scale in terms of policy matters: Pritam Singh

When asked about the WP’s aim, Mr Singh repeated the party’s medium-term objective of ensuring one-third of the seats in Parliament belong to opposition Members of Parliament (MP).

This, he explained, gives the ruling party “enough space to rule effectively”. At the same time, the “sizable” opposition presence is “in a position to expand” if the government goes off course.

As for the WP’s role, Mr Singh acknowledged that most of his party’s work is on a “small scale” in terms of policy.

He shared that, as the overall outcomes in Singapore are generally positive, it’s not feasible to present a “radically different” vision of the country.

Describing the average Singaporean as “pragmatic”, Mr Singh recognised that Singapore is a decent place to live and grow in. He also stressed that the WP is not seeking to destroy that.

The challenge, he said, is how to bring forward a vision of a participatory democracy and a more balanced political system when Singapore is home to some of the best infrastructure and systems in the world.

“But in spite of all that, there is a desire among many Singaporeans for political balance, and we know that. We try to tap into that,” said Mr Singh.

As for why the WP does not go into elections with a ‘we are ready to form government’ approach, Mr Singh explained that this does not align with the emotions on the ground.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a recipe for a successful political campaign,” said Mr Singh.

Source: The Workers’ Party on Facebook

Rational, respectable opposition is a ‘great insurance’ for Singapore

When asked if he can see Singapore without the People’s Action Party (PAP) in the driving seat, Mr Singh highlighted the unpredictability inherent in every generation.

Should the PAP suffer a “major malfunction”, he would like the WP to be in a position where they can say, “look, we’re ready because we’ve got these years of experience under our belt”

“And I think that’s a great insurance for Singapore,” he continued.

Mr Singh also expressed hope that Singaporeans understand the PAP is not larger than Singapore.

“I don’t think we are handcuffed to the PAP in any way,” he said.

Despite being the ruling party since Singapore’s independence, PAP candidates still have to “earn their stripes at the polls”.

Mr Singh also pointed out that that should be the case for opposition parties:

You cannot have opposition parties showing up one month, one week before elections and saying “Look here I’m standing and I want to be your Member of Parliament”.

Even though he acknowledges that being an opposition politician is challenging, Mr Singh said it is a path that brings great satisfaction and purpose.