Govt will have 'enough leeway' even if all WP candidates are elected, says Pritam

Ratio of WP MPs to PAP MPs will be only about 2 or 3 to 9 in that scenario, he says

- David Sun

Even if all 26 WP candidates are voted into Parliament in this election, the Government will still have enough space to deal with the issues of the day, said WP chief Pritam Singh.

If Singaporeans vote all the opposition party's candidates into Parliament, the ratio of WP MPs to ruling party MPs will be only "about two or three to nine", he said on April 28.

"The Government has enough space, enough leeway, enough focus to deal with the issues of today and tomorrow," added the Leader of the Opposition.

He was speaking to reporters in Tampines Avenue 2 on the sixth day of the 2025 General Election campaign, alongside WP chair Sylvia Lim and the party's Tampines slate.

Mr Singh was asked to respond to comments made by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong the day before at the PAP's rally at Fern Green Primary School in Fernvale.

SM Lee had said voters should not vote against the PAP to give opposition parties "a little bit more votes", in the hope of getting two or three more opposition members into Parliament.

The Senior Minister also spoke about the proposed deal between NTUC's Income Insurance and German insurer Allianz, saying that six PAP MPs and one WP MP had raised questions about it.

This was after Mr Singh said on April 26 that no PAP labour MP had asked questions about the deal in Parliament when the issue surfaced.

On April 28, Mr Singh said SM Lee had sidestepped the point he raised about the absence of PAP labour MPs weighing in, adding that while six PAP MPs and one WP MP had raised questions, the ratio of PAP MPs to WP MPs was about nine to one.

"The way the Senior Minister characterised the issue is, if we were in Government or if we were in charge, but we weren't in charge," he said.

The proposed $2.2 billion deal was called off in October 2024 after it came under public scrutiny.

SM Lee said the deal would have happened if the WP was in charge.