Ex-Member of Parliament (MP) Lee Li Lian expressed her view that the Workers’ Party (WP) still has an uphill battle in Parliament, even though it now has several elected MPs in the House, in a recent Facebook post.
For the first time in history, the WP won an unprecedented 10 seats in Parliament across three wards in the 2020 general election – the first election the opposition party contested under the leadership of Mr Pritam Singh, who became WP secretary-general in 2018.
A day after the watershed election, Mr Pritam was made Singapore’s very first Leader of the Opposition and given special privileges and double the allowance that an MP earns. Prominent members of the ruling party then stressed that the onus is now on the WP to put up alternative policy proposals for scrutiny in Parliament.
Ms Lee pointed out that while the WP works hard to formulate policies, the task ahead of it is a difficult one since it cannot lean on Government machinery such as the public service, unlike the ruling party. In a Facebook post published on Monday (24 Aug), Ms Lee wrote:
“I’m sure expectations are high and I have no doubt that the team will do their very best to represent Singaporeans in Parliament. There has been a lot of talk about Pritam as the leader of the opposition and will be given resources to formulate alternative policies.
“I know how hard and diligent our group of volunteers worked behind the scenes on policy matters. As compared to the huge machineries such as public service which is at the disposal of the current government, it is not going to be an easy task for team WP.”
The WP member, who is one of the new town councillors at Sengkang GRC, added that her party will continue to do its best in spite of the challenges it faces.
Ms Lee also shared photos of the new WP MPs outside Parliament House, on Facebook. Calling the presence of 10 elected opposition MPs and two non-constituency MPs a “new milestone for Singapore,” Ms Lee emphatically wished her colleagues: “JIAYOU!”
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