WP chief Pritam Singh on opposition replacing the government: 'I don't think it's possible at all'

Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh has expressed his opinion that it is not possible for the opposition to replace the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) government. 

Singh was asked for his response to Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing’s comment that to the ruling party, the Workers’ Party (WP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP) are not viewed as just the opposition, but as “people who might eventually replace the government after July 10”.

Chan, who is contesting Tanjong Pagar GRC in this election, was speaking at a Mandarin dialogue session organised by Lianhe Zaobao on Thursday (July 2), when he made the remark to PSP's Hazel Poa and WP's Kenneth Foo.

Speaking to reporters today, Singh referenced a 2015 comment by then-Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who said that “you could wake up after Polling Day and realise there’s no PAP government”. 

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Singh said: “It took 16 years after our independence for the opposition to win even one elected seat, and 23 years after 1988 ⁠— when the GRC system was introduced ⁠— for the opposition to win one GRC.

"So let's put this fear-mongering in perspective, and I hope that historical lookback is helpful in terms of how realistic this prospect which Minister Chan paints is possible. I don't think it is possible at all.”

Singh is one of the incumbents for Aljunied GRC, and he will be contesting it again this election, together with Gerald Giam, Faisal Manap, Sylvia Lim, and Leon Perera

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candicecai@asiaone.com