Singapore’s Leader of the Opposition debate draws comparisons with Westminster system

A peculiar gridlock has settled on Singapore’s political scene with the position of Leader of the Opposition (LO) vacant after Pritam Singh was removed from the post by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, with public discourse now centred on the constitutional basis, or lack thereof, for the role.Created in 2020 by then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong after Singh’s party won a record 10 seats in parliament, the non-statutory position contrasts sharply with its counterpart in Westminster systems, where such an official title falls to the leader of the biggest opposition party and is not a label bestowed by the country’s ruler.“It’s like having the captain of one team choose the captain for the other team,” former nominated MP Zulkifli Baharudin said.He noted that Singapore’s parliamentary system was unique in the sense that it differed from the British Westminster model from which it took reference.Singh was stripped of the title by Wong a day after most members in the ruling party-dominated parliament voted in agreement with a motion deeming him unfit for the position because of a conviction for lying to a committee.Wong on Thursday also informed the Workers’ Party (WP) – which Singh heads – that it could nominate another elected MP for the role, provided the individual was not involved in the court case concerning Singh.Singh had been convicted on two charges and fined S$14,000 (US$10,879) in February last year for lying under oath to a parliamentary committee looking into falsehoods former WP MP Raeesah Khan told in parliament in 2021. His conviction was upheld on December 4 after he appealed against it.