SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party’s (WP) special cadres meeting on Jun 28 is the first time there has been a real challenge to Pritam Singh’s position at the helm of the party, said political observers.With the special conference and a Central Executive Committee (CEC) election scheduled for later that day, the leadership of Singapore’s only opposition party in parliament will be decided by the end of the day, said observers.“The special meeting is the first overt challenge to the Pritam Singh-led WP leadership since Mr Singh succeeded Mr Low Thia Khiang as party chief in 2018,” said Singapore Management University associate professor of law Eugene Tan.Mr Singh was re-elected unopposed as secretary-general in the biennial party elections in 2020, 2022 and 2024.
The last time the party saw a contest for the secretary-general position was in 2016, when Mr Chen Show Mao mounted a challenge to then party chief Low Thia Khiang, losing with a 61-45 vote.The latest challenge reveals “a vocal but small segment” of the party’s inner circle who are visibly upset by how the WP leadership had handled the saga, which goes back to former Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan’s lies to parliament, said Assoc Prof Tan.Such a special conference did not follow the disciplinary proceedings against Ms Khan and other fellow members Leon Perera and Nicole Seah, he noted.The agenda for the Jun 28 special cadres meeting includes asking Mr Singh to account for the convicted charges of lying to a Committee of Privileges.They are also calling for him to step down immediately for breaching the party’s constitution. Should he not do so, there will be a “secret vote” to decide if he should remain or step down.The conference came from “a requisition of 25 cadre members”. It was previously reported that the WP has about 100 cadres.
