Will Pritam Singh stay or be ousted as WP chief? Unhappy cadres plan to put up a fight

SINGAPORE – Disgruntled with their leader Pritam Singh and agitating for change, a group of Workers’ Party cadres aim to unseat him at the party’s internal elections come June 28.

The search for a challenger has intensified in recent weeks, stemming from a High Court decision in December 2025 to uphold Singh’s conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee.

The disgruntled lot have made overtures to several of the opposition party’s senior MPs, though no one has confirmed that they will run against Singh so far, party insiders told The Straits Times. They did not want to be named, citing disciplinary actions against members who had been publicly critical of the party.

Names that have come up in discussion include Aljunied GRC MP Gerald Giam and Hougang MP Dennis Tan. Also mentioned were Sengkang GRC MPs He Ting Ru and Jamus Lim, who were part of a three-person disciplinary panel that found Singh had contravened the WP’s Constitution over his conviction.

Several cadres said the situation was still fluid and may continue to change even up to the day of the votes.

All this will come to a head on June 28 when the party’s cadres – which number slightly more than 100 and form its inner circle – gather for two meetings to vote on Singh’s leadership.

First a special conference, requested by 25 cadres in December 2025, will be held where Singh will be asked to account for his actions leading up to his conviction. These cadres, who include former central executive committee (CEC) members and election candidates, have also called for him to step down, and for a secret vote to decide his fate should he not resign.

The party will then hold its biennial ordinary cadres’ conference to re-elect its leadership, which includes Singh’s post of secretary-general.

The election comes two months after Singh was issued a formal letter of reprimand for contravening the party’s Constitution. This intensified calls for his resignation among party members already unhappy with his handling of a lie by former Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan.

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Any cadre in good standing can run or nominate another to run for the position. The party had said when issuing the formal letter of reprimand that there were currently no restrictions that prevent Singh from seeking re-election.

He has not been opposed since he took on the role eight years ago and will need a simple majority to hold on should a challenger emerge.

If Singh steps down as secretary-general at the first meeting, or he is voted out, he will still be eligible to run again at the second.

One cadre said whether a challenger will emerge at the second meeting could depend on how the first meeting goes.

If Singh is voted out, or if he prevails with just a small winning margin, there is a higher chance that a challenger will step forward, said the cadre.

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The state of play

Rumours are swirling within the party that former chief Low Thia Khiang, who is still on the party’s central executive committee, has ended his support for Singh.

Talk in the party is that Low voted against Singh during the CEC meeting on the disciplinary panel’s findings, sparking speculation that he may back another candidate for secretary-general.

But current and former cadres who spoke to ST said they do not expect him to run against Singh at the election.

All eyes are now on whether he will back a challenger.

Low, who was party chief from 2001 to 2018 and led the WP to its first GRC win in 2011, still has considerable sway among cadres, the party insiders said.

A former cadre said that if Low throws his support behind another candidate, there may be enough votes to unseat Singh – taking together about 30 unhappy cadres and those who might vote alongside the former party chief.

Low himself had faced a leadership challenge at the 2016 party elections by former Aljunied GRC MP Chen Show Mao.

Chen’s unsuccessful bid then was also backed by some of these cadres, many of them party veterans, who are now calling for Singh’s resignation.

The 25 cadres, who signed a letter in December 2025 that triggered the special conference, feel that Singh had botched the handling of Khan’s lie by not asking her to immediately clarify an anecdote she made up in Parliament in August 2021.

She eventually admitted to the falsehood in November that year. Singh was found by Parliament’s committee of privileges, and later by the courts, to have guided her in maintaining her lie.

Given this, his continued leadership could undermine the opposition party’s brand of integrity, and also open the party up to criticism and attacks, said some of the cadres.

“People vote for WP because they trust us to be different. If our leader is convicted of lying, we lose the moral high ground,” said a cadre who did not want to be named.

There is also the issue of the party losing its prominence in Parliament after Singh was removed as Leader of the Opposition by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in January 2026. The party was invited by PM Wong to nominate another elected MP to take over the role, but declined to do so, closing ranks behind Singh.

Some cadres have privately questioned the decision, suggesting that it ultimately harms the party and even the larger opposition cause.

Besides the conviction, Singh has also come under pressure over the party’s showing at the 2025 general election. Some cadres who spoke to The Straits Times said the party had expected to take another constituency given its strong slate.

That the party did not gain any ground had caused some unhappiness within the party, said a cadre. Others also took issue with Singh’s decision to retreat from Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC on Nomination Day.

Singh had said that the party had to make the difficult choice to deploy its resources strategically following boundary changes, but the decision rankled members and volunteers who had been canvassing in the constituency for years.

But cadres also said Singh still has strong support, citing his electoral success.

They pointed to how the party had gained Sengkang GRC in the 2020 general election and improved on its vote share in the 2025 general election under Singh’s leadership as proof of his political acumen and success as party chief.

Some party stalwarts like former Non-Constituency MP and 2025 East Coast GRC candidate Yee Jenn Jong have publicly supported Singh. At a dialogue during a book launch on June 3, Yee said he would vote to keep Singh on as chief.

Yee said he would do so as Singh has not been disqualified as an MP by law despite his conviction. He added that every opposition leader in Singapore will face large challenges – drawing parallels to lawsuits faced by former WP leaders Low and J.B. Jeyaretnam.

Yee also noted that the CEC “quickly met and rejected” PM Wong’s offer for the party to nominate another MP as Leader of the Opposition.

“That speaks for itself.”

The party’s MPs in January had also voted unanimously against a parliamentary motion that deemed Singh unsuitable to continue as Leader of the Opposition.

Even those who are unhappy with Singh acknowledge his popularity with the public. Said a cadre: “Even if internally we are unhappy, if Singaporeans think we are doing well, it may be hard for us to do anything.”

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What would a challenge mean for WP?

Analysts said the outcomes of the two meetings will not only determine the party’s leadership moving forward but also its unity and how the public perceives it.

Cadres voting Singh out would force a leadership transition at a moment when the WP should be consolidating its gains from the 2025 General Election, said Nydia Ngiow, managing director at strategic advisory firm BowerGroupAsia Singapore.

But before a challenger can be nominated at the second meeting, Singh could silence any naysayers by winning the secret vote.

Should the 100 or so WP cadres vote to retain Singh, it is unlikely that there will be a challenge for the secretary-general role, Ngiow said, noting that Singh’s standing within the wider cadre members remains considerable and it is clear that he has key veterans supporting him.

Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) senior research fellow Gillian Koh noted that Singh has been secretary-general since 2018 and he has renewed the ranks of the party’s inner circle.

Insiders estimate that the most recent injection of cadres, which are proposed, seconded and approved by the CEC every two years, was several months after the May 2025 General Election and numbered about 20.

The June 28 conferences will pit those loyal to him against older generations of cadres, said Koh.

Independent political observer Felix Tan said Singh refusing to step down and staying on as leader could potentially expose or deepen existing divisions within the party and a contentious process could undermine party cohesion.

“The more important question, however, is the extent of any such divisions and whether they are significant enough to affect party unity, morale, or its broader political effectiveness,” he added.

Singh’s ability to get votes is another factor, analysts and members said.

Singh and his predecessor, Low, have made the WP competitive in elections since 2011, noted IPS’ Koh.

Also, voters have not yet expressed any significant loss of confidence in Singh’s leadership and the party – the WP contested in the last GE despite his conviction in February 2025 for lying to a parliamentary committee, she said.

“Cadres will consider this carefully.”

Holding the special conference could reinforce the WP’s image as a constructive opposition that values fairness, institutional procedures, and the expression of diverse viewpoints, Tan said.

It demonstrates the party’s commitment to openness, internal democracy, and accountability, and signals a willingness to allow important issues to be debated transparently rather than resolved behind closed doors, he added.

But the process also carries risk and may expose underlying divisions within WP and bring internal disagreements into the public spotlight, he said. “In a worst-case scenario, if these differences become deeply entrenched, they could undermine party cohesion and effectiveness.”

The challenge, therefore, lies in balancing openness and accountability with the need to preserve organisational unity and collective purpose, he said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.