Singapore's Leader of the Opposition, Pritam Singh, has been stripped of his title following a conviction for lying under oath to a parliamentary committee. The decision was made by lawmakers in parliament, which is dominated by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).
Singh was found guilty by a court last February and fined thousands of dollars after it ruled that he had not wanted Raeesah Khan to clarify her lie during a parliamentary investigation into police misconduct. However, Singh maintains his innocence throughout the closely-watched trial.
Critics have accused Singapore's government of using the judiciary to target its political opponents, with charges authorities always denying. The move by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong follows a three-hour debate where the parliament agreed that Singh should not be the Leader of the Opposition, backed by all 11 WP members voting against it.
Singh will remain an MP and secretary-general of the largest opposition party, Workers' Party (WP), but will lose privileges such as additional allowances and the right of first reply during parliamentary debates. In response to BBC queries over text messaging, Singh responded with a single word: "#WeContinue".
The WP said it will deliberate on the move and respond "in due course". The party holds 12 seats in Singapore's 108-seat parliament.
Singh was found guilty by a court last February and fined thousands of dollars after it ruled that he had not wanted Raeesah Khan to clarify her lie during a parliamentary investigation into police misconduct. However, Singh maintains his innocence throughout the closely-watched trial.
Critics have accused Singapore's government of using the judiciary to target its political opponents, with charges authorities always denying. The move by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong follows a three-hour debate where the parliament agreed that Singh should not be the Leader of the Opposition, backed by all 11 WP members voting against it.
Singh will remain an MP and secretary-general of the largest opposition party, Workers' Party (WP), but will lose privileges such as additional allowances and the right of first reply during parliamentary debates. In response to BBC queries over text messaging, Singh responded with a single word: "#WeContinue".
The WP said it will deliberate on the move and respond "in due course". The party holds 12 seats in Singapore's 108-seat parliament.
it seems like the PAP is trying to set a new standard for "democracy" in Singapore - where you can only be opposition if you're willing to take a fall 
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. And good luck trying to spin this as "targeting the judiciary" when it's just about silencing an opposition leader 
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. It feels like they're trying to silence anyone who dares to speak out against them. I mean, Pritam Singh was just trying to protect his team member Raeesah Khan during that parliamentary investigation, and now he's paying the price for it 
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. The government is using the judiciary as a tool to target their opponents and control the narrative. It's like they're saying, "If you cross us, you'll face the consequences" 
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. He refused to give up even when things got tough, and he still found it in himself to respond with "#WeContinue". That takes a lot of guts 
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... its like they're testing him or somethin'? And what's with the #WeContinue response tho? seems like a pretty big middle finger to the gov 
. Pritam Singh was always going to take one for the team by maintaining his innocence, and now he gets stripped of his title as Leader of the Opposition 
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. And let's not forget, Singh was found guilty in court and fined thousands of dollars, which is basically saying that he lost his case, but it's just convenient for the PAP to target him now 
. With this move, it looks like the government is trying to intimidate its opponents and stifle free speech. The fact that all 11 WP members voted against Singh losing his title shows that there's still some level of opposition within the party, but it's clear that the PAP has the upper hand 
. Until then, #WeContinue 
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they're really doing that topritam singh now 
thousands of dollars fine, lost privileges... it's not right 
but you know how it is in singapore, politics is a game where one wrong move can be fatal 
remember when we used to have opposition voices being heard without any drama? now it feels like they're silencing dissenting views left and right... doesn't feel like the same country anymore 
anyway, poor Pritam Singh got a raw deal - thousands of dollars fine for lying under oath? that's not exactly what i'd call 'fair' 
hope WP can regroup and come up with something stronger than just "#WeContinue" 
#PritamSinghDeservesBetter. This move by Lawrence Wong just proves the gov's got something to hide, imo 
. i'm not surprised tho, the PAP has always been kinda shady 
I'm not sure what "#WeContinue" means, but it sounds like Singh is saying they won't back down... 
. what really bothers me is the parliament deciding everything by themselves no debate or vote from the public? how are we supposed to trust our leaders when they make decisions without hearing both sides of the story? 
. It's like, can't we just have a free speech debate without all this drama? 
, it's not right that Singh loses privileges like additional allowances and first reply rights 
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? It feels like there's still so much we don't know about this whole situation...
! I'm literally shaking my head thinking about Pritam Singh getting stripped of his title just 'cause he didn't want to see Raeesah Khan get roasted during that parliamentary investigation. It's all about politics and power struggles here