After the conclusion of the General Election 2020, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong formally designated Pritam Singh as the official Leader of the Opposition, after the Workers’ Party won 10 seats in Parliament.
This was unprecedented because historically, the politicians who led the largest opposition political party were never recognized officially.
Singh, wrote on Facebook: “I look forward to serving as the leader of the opposition and will carry out my duties to the best of my abilities. I will endeavour to ensure that The Workers’ Party under my leadership will remain loyal to Singapore and all Singaporeans.”
However, a lot remains unknown about the new role, such as what privileges or responsibilities there are. But PM Lee has confirmed the allocation of “appropriate support and resources” to him.
It is believed that the “support and resources” would most like be in the form of more funding and some parliamentary privileges.
But it still remains to be seen, what the Chief’s new role will look like.
But other than this, not much has been said by PM Lee or anyone else, for that matter, to confirm what Singh’s new role will look like and entail.
Questions still remain, like:
- In parliamentary debates, will he be given priority or additional speaking time?
- In the Singapore Order of Precedence, how will he be ranked against the political office holders?