Pritam Singh in Malaysian podcast: WP wants to be 'insurance' for Singapore should PAP suffer 'major malfunction'

WP chief says he does not want to be PM; his role is to normalize idea of an opposition

- Goh Yan Han

The Workers' Party wants to get to a position where it is ready to step in and govern, should the ruling PAP suffer a "major malfunction", said Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh.

"You want to be in a position where you can say: 'Look, we're ready because we've got these years of experience under our belt," he added.

This would be a "great insurance for Singapore", said Mr Singh, who has been party chief since 2018.

"I'm not saying me and my colleagues today will be in that position, but we certainly want to put the party in that position," he added.

Mr Singh, who was making his first podcast appearance, was responding to a question from former Malaysian health minister Khairy Jamaluddin on whether he could see a Singapore without the PAP at the helm. Mr Khairy and former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan are hosts of popular Malaysian political podcast Keluar Sekejap, which translates into "out for a moment".

In an almost two-hour-long session uploaded to YouTube on June 24, Mr Singh also said he would not want to be prime minister of Singapore.

"I think my role is to normalize the idea of an opposition in Singapore," he said. He hopes to bring more like-minded people on board to achieve a "functioning and effective" parliamentary democracy.

His comments - filmed during a family holiday to Malaysia - come about two months after the 2025 General Election held on May 3. In that outing, the WP held on to its 10 seats in Aljunied, Hougang and Sengkang.

The party also picked up two Non-Constituency MP seats for its Jalan Kayu and Tampines GRC candidates, following close fights in those constituencies.

They form the WP's largest contingent in Parliament, after the party fielded 26 candidates in eight constituencies out of the 97 seats and 33 constituencies available.