Hammering on: Business as usual for WP, with visits to Eunos, Serangoon, and Jalan Kayu

SINGAPORE: It was business as usual for the Workers’ Party (WP) last weekend, a few days after its secretary-general, Pritam Singh, had been removed as Leader of the Opposition.

The party did not comment on a new opposition leader and the WP’s internal disciplinary review on Mr Singh, according to a report in Shin Min Daily News, saying that announcements on these issues would be made through official channels.

Appearing to make good on their #WeContinue aim, Mr Singh had a busy weekend on the ground. On Saturday, he was at Eunos, the ward he has been representing since 2011, for a monthly grocery truck event and a visit to a market and hawker centre.

On Sunday, the WP team came out in full force at Serangoon and Jalan Kayu for their Hammer outreach. A photo that Mr Singh posted on his Facebook page showed him with a large group of WP members and volunteers, which notably included Low Thia Khiang, who had served as party chief from 2001 to 2018, and WP chair Sylvia Lim.

Mr Singh and Ms Lim’s fellow Aljunied GRC MPs Gerald Giam, Kenneth Tiong, and Fadli Fawzi were also present, as were Hougang MP Dennis Tan, Sengkang MP Jamus Lim, and Non-constituency MPs Andre Low and Eileen Chong.

Read related: What’s next for Workers’ Party, will the party stand behind Pritam or nominate another WP MP?

Mr Singh is the first person appointed as Leader of the Opposition after the WP won an unprecedented 10 seats in Parliament and a second GRC in the General Election in 2020. On Jan 14, however, Parliament passed a motion deeming him unsuitable as Leader of the Opposition in the wake of the High Court upholding the Feb 17 verdict finding the WP chief guilty of two counts of lying to a parliamentary committee.

On the following day, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that Mr Singh’s designation would cease with immediate effect. He wrote a letter to the party’s Central Executive Committee, which passed the decision to the WP as to who would fill the role.

“I invite the Workers’ Party to nominate another elected Member of Parliament to serve as the next LO. This nominee should not have been implicated in the earlier findings of the Committee of Privileges, and must be able to meet the high standards expected of this office,” wrote PM Wong.

Residents respond to Mr Singh

The Shin Min Daily News report added that the residents’ reception of Mr Singh at Serangoon had been a warm one, with some coming forward to take photos with him and even patting him on the back. It also quoted residents as saying that in spite of this week’s news, they believed it would not affect their impression of Mr Singh, though they hoped a new Leader of the Opposition would be elected as soon as possible.

When Mr Singh and the Aljunied MPs went to Serangoon Garden Market for lunch, several groups of people came up to talk to them, the report said. /TISG

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