WP chief Pritam says him becoming PM is not 'realistic' in Singapore's 'fledgling' political system

Will Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh one day be the prime minister of Singapore?

Don't hold your breath waiting.

Leader of the Opposition Singh has shut down the notion once again in an interview with Yah Lah But podcast hosts Haresh Tilani and Terence Chia, which was uploaded to YouTube on Monday (Aug 25).

Earlier in June, Singh appeared on Malaysian political podcast Keluar Sekejap, where he said he would not want to be prime minister, and that he has a role of "[normalising] the idea of an opposition in Singapore".

Asked to elaborate on the reasons why, Singh said on the Yah Lah But podcast that the Republic's political system is "evolving" and "still fledgling" in terms of opposition presence.

"You can't crawl and then straight away become Usain Bolt... it doesn't happen that way," he quipped.

Singh noted how the formal position of Leader of the Opposition was only introduced here in 2020, despite it being an official title in "practically all parliamentary democracies" modelled after the Westminster system.

"I mean, running from there and then having these heady dreams about PM and things like that, I just don't think it's realistic and I think it's setting people up for expectation which you know you can't fulfil," he added.

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Host Chia then pointed out that the late Lee Kuan Yew was once the de facto leader of the opposition, and if the onus is on Singh to inspire and motivate WP members to lead Singapore in the future.

Lee co-founded the People's Action Party in 1954, secured a seat in the Tanjong Pagar division during the 1955 general election, making him the de facto opposition leader. 

In response, the WP chief said there were multiple "complicated and layered" factors in the mid-1950s, where the political environment was vastly different from today.

Having a good and strong opposition in Parliament is healthy and should be normalised, Singh reiterated, "so that every Singaporean feels that they have a stake in this country".

In the nearly two-hour-long podcast, Singh spoke about woke politics, future elections and family life.

He also reflected on General Election 2025 (GE2025), where WP retained 10 parliamentary seats and secured the two Non-Constituency MP seats.

Addressing again the decision to not contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, Singh said the party looks at what information is available publicly to consider the resident demographic in each electoral division as part of their strategy.

"We have to try and make the best of what we have and that will mean sometimes making a decision which is quite heart aching, like the one to not contest in Marine Parade and shift resources elsewhere."

Challenging recruiting opposition members 

In GE2025, WP introduced a slate of new faces described as "a broad range of individuals" with different backgrounds and experiences.

Highlighting the "impressive resumes" some of these candidates boast, podcast host Chia asked if recruiting new WP members has gotten "easier", or if the party still faces the same struggles as 10 years ago.

Prefacing that while it is "unfair and inaccurate" to state that recruitment is as challenging as in the past, Singh said it is still "difficult" as the "old issues" still persist.

"The concerns of my employer not being happy with my political choices and my ambitions, my family being very concerned about how you will be harangued because you're an opposition member.

"Those things are still life. Those things haven't changed," he said.

Despite this, Singh believes that more young Singaporeans are stepping up to contribute as they believe joining politics is meaningful. "I hope that we continue along that trajectory, that people feel that way [and] they're not joining because it's an ego trip."

lim.kewei@asiaone.com