Pritam hopes WP will continue to get time to engage Govt

Workers' Party chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh at the opening of the 14th Parliament. PHOTO: GOV.SG

Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh yesterday congratulated Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin on his re-election, and said that he gave WP MPs appropriate time to engage the Government on the issues that matter.

"We trust that you will continue in the same vein," Mr Singh added in his first speech in Parliament as Leader of the Opposition.

Speaking on behalf of nine other WP MPs and two Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MPs, he pledged to continue to support Mr Tan's efforts in raising the esteem of Parliament and Singapore.

He also urged Mr Tan to lend support to a suggestion he made in 2016, for the Government to consider setting up more parliamentary select committees, such as on key issues like population.

This would demystify the work of Parliament, a central pillar of Singapore's system of government, and make politics more accountable and policies better, he said.

In turn, it would help Singaporeans to better appreciate law-making and debates on policy imperatives and trade-offs, he added.

"Parliament's direct and indirect impact on each and every Singaporean and our businesses is massive, and it is only appropriate that we amplify the choices and the reasons behind the decisions made or not made in Parliament more widely," he said.

"In doing so, I hope Singaporeans are in turn driven to understand the issues we debate deeply, but always in the context of a small and multi-racial society which has to balance and accommodate many different viewpoints and shifting norms."

Mr Singh said Mr Tan has sought to increase public awareness of the work of Parliament since assuming the Speaker's role in 2017, such as through increased use of social media, without compromising on the formality and serious purpose of Parliament. "In doing so, you have encouraged Singaporeans to take an active interest in Parliament as an organ of state that is fundamental to our democracy," he added.

Another thing Mr Tan has done is to take an active interest in engaging the parliamentarians of Singapore's closest neighbours, taking delegations on visits to the Parliaments of Malaysia and Indonesia, said Mr Singh.

"Indeed, as this generation of Singaporeans traverses a more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world than before, we would be remiss to ignore our closest neighbours and the context of Singapore's place in our neighbourhood and the wider world."

He recounted how, during a courtesy visit to the Dewan Rakyat - Malaysia's Lower House of Parliament - in March last year, a Malaysian MP had asked Mr Tan for his advice on the removal of an MP, which was being fiercely debated at that sitting.

"I do not think it was a coincidence that another Malaysian MP stood up and invited the Dewan Rakyat to seek your advice from the visitor's gallery as to whether such a removal of an MP was proper," said Mr Singh. "Though we have not experienced such an episode ourselves in the Singapore Parliament in recent memory, it is clear that your views on how such a matter should be handled are valued in the region."

Several MPs also spoke in support of Mr Tan, including Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Saktiandi Supaat.

Responding later, Mr Tan thanked MPs for their support for his re-election, and said he had no intention of ejecting anyone from the chamber - in an apparent reference to Mr Singh's speech. "And as Mr Saktiandi has said, I've also no intention of photo-shopping anyone out of the picture."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 25, 2020, with the headline Pritam hopes WP will continue to get time to engage Govt. Subscribe