Singapore opposition leader Pritam Singh's trial begins before elections

By Philip J. Heijmans and Niluksi Koswanage

Singapore’s opposition leader started his trial on Monday for allegedly lying, potentially drawing more scrutiny on his party before a general election that must be held by next year.

Pritam Singh, who heads the Workers’ Party, faces two charges of lying under oath to a parliamentary committee. He was testifying in an investigation into a former lawmaker Raeesah Khan from his party who had lied in a parliament about a sexual assault case. He has pleaded not guilty.

“The accused proceeded to mislead the committee of privileges by giving false evidence about what he wanted Ms. Khan to do in relation to the untruth she had spoken in parliament,” Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock said in court. 

Prosecutors have previously said they plan to ask the court to impose a fine if Singh, 48, is convicted. Members of parliament are disqualified for five years if they are fined at least $10,000 ($7,654) in a criminal case.

Singh’s trial takes place the week after a former minister went to prison for the first time in almost half a century in the city-state that prides itself on clean governance. S. Iswaran, a former transport minister, started a 12-month term for obtaining valuable items as a public servant and obstruction of justice.

The cases come as Lawrence Wong, who in May became only Singapore’s fourth prime minister since independence in 1965, prepares to lead his ruling People’s Action Party into an election that must happen no later than November 2025.

The PAP had its worst-ever showing in the last election in 2020, while the Workers’ Party won a record 10 seats and two group representation constituencies. But the party that has ruled Singapore without interruption since it became a state in 1965 still won 89 per cent of seats.

Singh was formally named leader of the opposition in 2020, the first such designation in Singapore’s history. His Workers’ Party has cast itself as being able to serve as a check on the PAP.

But the party’s fortunes worsened in 2022 when a parliamentary committee stacked with ruling-party officials found that Singh “told untruths” during his testimony in the investigation into Khan. Parliament then referred Singh to the prosecutors.

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