On the scale of the Singaporean justice system, which regularly hangs people, Singh’s crime is small. But what could have been an embarrassing episode involving a first-term MP has turned into a widely followed and drawn-out saga culminating in a guilty verdict against a party leader in an election year. Singh said on Monday he would appeal.
Underscoring the bad timing and optics for the opposition, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will on Tuesday deliver a budget expected to be stacked with sweeteners for voters.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong inspects honour guards in Malaysia in January.Credit: AP
Adding a layer of drama to the affair, MPs in Singapore are banished for five years if they have done something serious enough to warrant a fine of more than $10,000. Both of Singh’s fines were below this threshold, but exceeded it when added together. His future was uncertain until the Elections Department released a statement late on Monday clarifying that the fines could not be stacked up for the purposes of disqualification.
An election must be held before mid-November but could be called at any moment. Singh’s party is unlikely to beat the PAP, which maintains a tight grip on speech. The WP goal, rather, has been to build a parliament in which a third of MPs are from non-PAP parties. While this does not sound like much, the PAP’s worst-ever election result was in 2020, when it won 83 of 93 contested seats.
The attention on the scandal, and now the guilty verdict, have wounded the WP’s hopes of making further inroads into Parliament.
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Singh was asked on Monday about the timing of the verdict and whether he believed the Singapore court system was fair.
“In view of my impending appeal, it’s probably wise for me not to go down that road,” he said.
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