Parliament to debate Pritam’s suitability as Leader of the Opposition after conviction for lying
A motion has been tabled by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah for the upcoming session of Parliament, which is scheduled to sit on Jan 12
[SINGAPORE] Parliament is set to debate if Pritam Singh is unsuitable to continue as Leader of the Opposition following his conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee.
A motion has been tabled by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah for the upcoming session of Parliament, which is scheduled to sit on Jan 12. The motion will be raised on Jan 13 or later in the week, said the Office of the Leader of the House in a statement on Jan 9.
It calls on the House to consider if Singh, who is the chief of the Workers’ Party, is still fit for the role, given his conduct which was “dishonourable and unbecoming” of an MP.
The motion notes that Singh had been convicted in a court of law for lying under oath when giving testimony to Parliament’s Committee of Privileges, and was also found by that committee to have guided his party’s former MP Raeesah Khan to keep up a lie she told in Parliament.
In addition, the motion notes that the judgment was upheld by the High Court.
This comes after Indranee had first said in December 2025 that Parliament would have to discuss an “appropriate response” to Singh’s conviction on two charges of lying under oath under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act.
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He was convicted on Feb 17, 2025 and fined the maximum of S$7,000 for each of the charges. The verdict was upheld by the High Court on Dec 4 on appeal.
The case, which opened in court in 2024, arose over Singh’s handling of Khan’s lie in Parliament in 2021.
Indranee had said that it was necessary for Parliament to take notice of the actions and convictions of the Leader of the Opposition.
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She said: “In some countries, leaders who have lied, cheated or flagrantly broken the law still escape any legal or political consequences. We cannot accept such standards in Singapore.”
She also added that it was up to the WP to decide what it intended to do in light of the court judgment, and Singh’s acceptance of the judgment, fully and without reservation.
On Jan 3, the WP announced that a disciplinary panel would be formed to assess if Singh had contravened the party’s Constitution. THE STRAITS TIMES
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