GE2025: ‘Real pressure’ on PAP to act with opposition in Parliament, says WP’s Pritam Singh
[SINGAPORE] Singaporeans should brave through the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) “message of fear” and dare to vote for a rational and credible opposition, candidates from the Workers’ Party (WP) told supporters at the party’s first rally in the 2025 general election.
At the rally held along Anchorvale Crescent on Thursday (Apr 24), speakers highlighted the importance of voting for capable MPs that can speak in Parliament “without fear”, as they would be able to provide alternative voices.
“The reality is this: when you have an opposition in Parliament, your alternative voice, your views are heard by the government,” said party secretary-general Pritam Singh, who was the final speaker.
“There is pressure, real pressure, on the PAP to act, particularly if the views advanced by the Workers’ Party are shared by all Singaporeans,” he added.
Singh, who is leading WP’s Aljunied GRC slate, also called on Singaporeans to be “active participants in democracy” and “fighters” like the people of Hougang SMC, who had “iron in their spine to vote opposition”.
The WP first won Hougang in 1991 and has held on to it ever since.
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After the party’s victory there, the PAP “treated Hougang voters like a political football with taxpayer dollars”, said Singh.
“The PAP took away their wet market, the PAP took away their bus routes… the PAP even dangled upgrading carrots worth millions of dollars in front of them,” he added.
However, Hougang voters “have shown even more iron and continued to vote for the Workers’ Party”.
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“What this shows is how easily the PAP can take away the dignity and self-respect of all Singaporeans,” he said. “If we don’t have more fully elected opposition MPs in the House, no one can rule out a return of such a PAP.”
Other speakers at the rally included WP’s candidates from Punggol GRC, Sengkang GRC, Hougang SMC and Jalan Kayu SMC, as well as former Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong from the party’s East Coast slate and Gerald Giam, who is contesting in Aljunied GRC.
Jalan Kayu candidate Andre Low brought up the scrapped Income-Allianz deal as a recent example of when strong opposition voices are needed in Parliament.
He noted that the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) had supported the German insurer Allianz’s bid to acquire a majority stake in Income Insurance, but later revealed that NTUC’s central committee was unaware of a capital extraction plan that would have returned S$1.85 billion to its shareholders.
Income is largely owned by NTUC Enterprise Co-operative.
“The situation was so serious that we had to pass emergency legislation to block the deal – a deal that NTUC publicly endorsed just two months before that,” said Low, who described NTUC and PAP’s relationship as “close”.
Stronger opposition voices in Parliament would therefore serve as “checks and balances” to such issues, he added.
“Without proper checks and balances... without people willing to challenge those in power, these kinds of decisions get taken behind closed doors,” he said.
“Message of fear”
Several candidates also rebutted the PAP’s “message of fear” brought about by an uncertain economic climate, noting that having opposition parties in Parliament that can debate policy will help Singapore weather the crisis.
This was in response to several PAP leaders’ statements on the threat of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which could lead to a full-blown trade war.
Hougang candidate Dennis Tan said: “At times like this, with global uncertainties and challenges, it is even more important for us to have more heads with different ideas in Parliament, rather than one team speaking from the same script, singing the same song.”
At the same time, WP is not here to tear down what works, but to build on it, noted Harpreet Singh, who is part of the Punggol GRC team.
“The world is changing. It is faster, more competitive, more unpredictable, and if we as a nation do not change, we risk falling seriously behind,” he added.
He called on voters to vote for a stronger opposition, as the “strongest governments are not the ones who operate without challenge”.
“They are the ones that are pushed to be better and Singapore deserves no less,” he said.
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