Singapore’s Indian-origin Leader of Opposition Pritam Singh is being questioned by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) for having spoken about politics in the city-state on a Malaysian podcast.
Singh, the secretary general of Workers Party (WP), shared his views on the Malaysian podcast which “raises serious questions” as to why he chose to address the topic “to a foreign audience”, the Channel News Asia reported, citing PAP reactions.
“Strikingly, he chose not a local media outlet, but a podcast hosted by Malaysians and recorded in Malaysia to share his views on our domestic political landscape,” the party said in a statement.
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Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia till August 1965, and then became a sovereign state because of sensitive political differences with the central government in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
In a video released on YouTube on June 24, he spoke to ‘Keluar Sekejap (come out for a while — if literally translated), a popular Malaysian political podcast hosted by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan, previously information chief of United Malays National Organisation.
It was Singh’s most in-depth interview since the May 3 general election, in which the PAP retained power with 65.57 percent of the vote.
The ruling party claimed 87 out of 97 seats, the 10 seats going to WP.
The PAP said the issue was not “merely a matter of platform preference. It touches on a fundamental principle – that Singapore’s domestic affairs should be debated and decided by Singaporeans, within Singapore”.
Quoting former opposition stalwart of WP Chiam See Tong, the PAP demanded: “The opposition must be ‘truthful … good patriotic Singaporeans … and not go around the world renouncing Singapore’.”
During the podcast interview, which lasted more than one-and-a-half hours, Singh addressed a wide range of topics, including the WP’s electoral strategy, and the intersection of race, religion and politics.
Replying to a question, Singh said he did not aspire to become the prime minister of Singapore.
Khairy also asked if there was a “lack of ambition” from the WP and if it should have pivoted from the goal of winning one-third of the seats in parliament, to which Singh said that Singaporean voters were not seeking a change in government.
The PAP also challenged Singh’s claim that his party does not “score political points based on race or religion” in the multi-national city state.
