WP reacts to PAP statement: Pritam's appearance on Malaysian podcast had no detrimental impact on Singapore's interests

The ruling party had raised concerns over the WP chief's appearance on a Malaysian political podcast hosted by former minister Khairy Jamaluddin
WP reacts to PAP statement: Pritam's appearance on Malaysian podcast had no detrimental impact on Singapore's interests
In the statement, Workers' Party said that the public perception to Pritam Singh's media engagement was "positive".
PHOTO: AsiaOne file

[UPDATED July 4, 5.40pm]

The Workers' Party (WP) has responded to a statement by the People's Action Party (PAP) on Thursday (July 3), which raised concerns over WP secretary-general Pritam Singh's recent media engagement with Malaysian political podcast Keluar Sekejap. 

In its statement titled 'PAP opposing for the sake of opposing', WP said that public perception in Singapore to the podcast has been positive.

"It exemplified how a non-government Singaporean politician can speak fairly and frankly about Singapore and the Singapore government, without denouncing either."

Doubling down on its assessment that the podcast was well received, the party said that it was aware one PAP member had remarked that "Pritam did well". 

It also said that other PAP members had happily posed for pictures with one of the podcast's hosts when the latter was in Singapore over the weekend, suggesting that Singh's appearance on the podcast "had no detrimental impact whatsoever on Singapore's national interests".

In a Facebook post on June 28, Singh said that he had asked to "get on Keluar Sekejap" to address comments made by the podcast's hosts on WP's GE2025 campaign.

WP also pointed to the issue of Singh speaking to foreign media and said that since the Leader of the Opposition is not a member of the Executive (the Cabinet), it was never made known to him that there were any binding rules that would restrict his freedom to speak -- whether locally or overseas. 

Drawing parallels to how PAP leaders routinely share their views on domestic matters to foreign media, WP said that "these interviews are not out of the ordinary", and that no right-thinking individual would accuse the PAP of "foreign involvement" to benefit the ruling party. 

WP, Singapore's biggest opposition party, has 12 seats in the 15th Parliament, including two NCMPs.

The WP statement added it had "decisively dealt with" questions regarding its party members' meeting with Malaysia-based religious leader Noor Deros and Malaysian political party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia's (PAS) endorsement of its candidates.

The media was also referred to the WP's statement on foreign influence issued on April 26, during GE2025. In that statement, the WP said that "there were no promises, commitments or agreements made to any individual, including Noor Deros, in exchange for political support".

PAP's statement

The PAP had earlier raised concerns over Singh's appearance on the Malaysian political podcast and said that politics should remain within Singapore's boundaries. 

Calling it a "fundamental principle", the ruling party cited former opposition Member of Parliament Chiam See Tong, who said that the opposition must be "truthful... good patriotic Singaporeans... and not go around the world denouncing Singapore". 

It also listed PAS' support for the WP, its meeting with Noor, and Harpreet Singh's "misleading statements" about the PAP's stance on a prime minister from a minority group - as a worrying pattern of misrepresentation. 

In a late-night response to the WP's reaction that followed the earlier PAP statement, the ruling party said that while Singapore ministers do engage with foreign media, they discuss a wide range of topics - including international and regional affairs, as well as domestic matters.

"What is unusual here is that the Leader of the Opposition gave his first in-depth interview on GE2025 to Malaysian podcasters -- and the discussion focused almost entirely on Singapore's internal politics," said the PAP. It also claimed that the WP had "declined invitations from Singaporean podcasters".

In their earlier statement, the PAP said that both Singapore and Malaysia have observed a careful boundary of refraining from commenting on each other's politics. 

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