Government accepts WP's rejection of Leader of the Opposition role, says position to stay vacant for now
"In other jurisdictions, members convicted of crimes involving dishonesty or lying under oath would ordinarily have resigned. This has not happened here," said the Prime Minister's Office.
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SINGAPORE: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Wednesday (Jan 21) evening agreed with the Workers' Party (WP) that the leader of the main opposition party in parliament would be the natural choice to serve as Leader of the Opposition.
However, this was an "exceptional situation", said the PMO, given that the former Leader of the Opposition, WP chief Pritam Singh, had been "criminally convicted by the courts of lying to parliament, and parliament has resolved that his conviction and conduct render him unsuitable to continue in the role".
"In other jurisdictions, members convicted of crimes involving dishonesty or lying under oath would ordinarily have resigned. This has not happened here," the PMO said in a statement after the WP announced that it would reject Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's invitation to nominate a new Leader of the Opposition.
The PMO said that the government had accepted the decision, and that the position would therefore remain vacant "until such time that the WP is ready to nominate someone to take on this responsibility".
In its statement, the PMO also said that Singapore places "a high premium on honesty and integrity" in its political system and "on respect for the rule of law".
"Members of Parliament, especially those in leadership positions, must exemplify these values and uphold the integrity of our system," it said.
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The WP had said earlier on Wednesday that it was "unable to accept" Mr Wong's invitation to nominate one of its Members of Parliament to succeed party chief Pritam Singh in the role.
Mr Wong removed Mr Singh as Leader of the Opposition on Jan 15, a day after parliament voted and passed a motion that he was unsuitable to continue in the role following his conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee.
The prime minister also said at the time that he had invited the WP to nominate another elected MP to serve as the next Leader of the Opposition.
The WP said in a statement on Wednesday that it had responded to Mr Wong and that it would not be nominating another party MP to the post.
"We are unable to accept your invitation to nominate another Workers' Party Member of Parliament to the Leader of the Opposition post, as the Workers' Party has our own established processes for electing our leadership," the party's central executive committee (CEC) said in a letter to Mr Wong.
The CEC added: "Despite not having any constitutional or statutory eligibility criteria, we hold the view that the only tenable candidate for the Leader of the Opposition position would be a Member of Parliament who is the leader of the largest opposition party in parliament, the Workers' Party."
