Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh’s participation in WP’s Marine Parade GRC walkabout delights WP supporters

SINGAPORE: Supporters of Singapore’s alternative political party, the Workers’ Party (WP), were recently elated by news circulating on social media. Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh was spotted wearing a blue shirt, walking the grounds in Marine Parade alongside Team WP.

On Sunday (13 Aug), lawyer Muhammad Fadli Mohammed Fawzi, who had also contested in the Marine Parade GRC during the 2020 General Election, shared a Facebook post about their outreach program to Joo Chiat residents with his fellow WP teammate.

Interestingly, a group photo featured a prominent Singaporean figure, Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh. (second right in the photo)

In another Facebook post shared by Nathaniel Koh, the WP’s deputy treasurer and acting President of WP Youth Wing, there was a photo with a resident, also including Mr Singh.

He was dressed in a light-blue shirt and holding WP’s pamphlet.

Mr Singh’s stance on crucial Singaporean issues

Mr Singh has been actively vocal about issues of significant interest to the people of Singapore.

These encompass the high-profile case of former domestic worker Parti Liyani, and the policies concerning migrant workers’ dormitories during the pandemic COVID-19, and he has also penned several strongly-worded articles addressing recent controversies in the past few months.

He questioned the decision of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) not to prosecute six former senior management members of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (KOM).

Furthermore, he recently commented on alleged violations of the Ministerial Code of Conduct by two Singaporean ministers in relation to their leasing of properties in the Ridout Road area.

His presence at the walkabout for the Marine Parade GRC has sparked speculations of him being considered as a candidate.

WP Chief earlier emphasizes commitment to field competent candidates for genuine representation of Singapore’s interests

On 19 July, addressing inquiries from the media regarding the WP candidate screening process, WP Chief Pritam Singh acknowledged concerns arising from the party’s loss of three out of 21 candidates within two years since the 2020 General Election.

He underscored that it was premature to comment on the upcoming General Election. However, Mr Singh stated that WP makes a concerted effort to field competent candidates who can genuinely represent Singapore’s interests, and this practice will continue.

“But certainly you make decisions at the material time when you’re fielding candidates, and you try your best to find out as much as you can about those individuals, however, you cannot legislate for what they will do after they become candidates.”

“I think once you know that there are certain issues that have come up then in good conscience I cannot field them as candidates again if I am aware of those facts.”

Workers’ Party’s performance in GE 2020

During the General Election of 2020, both Nathaniel Koh and Mr Fawzi, along with former Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong, Ron Tan Jun Yen (a senior assistant manager at the National University Health System Research Office), and small business owner Muhammad Azhar Abdul Latip, contested in the Marine Parade GRC.

At that time, the People’s Action Party (PAP) team, led by then-Parliament Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin, secured the GRC seat with 57.76% of the votes.

The victorious PAP team comprised Tan Chuan-Jin, Edwin Tong, Seah Kian Peng, Tan See Leng, and Fahmi Aliman. They triumphed over the WP team, which received 42.24% of the votes.

In the Marine Parade GRC, a total of 74,993 votes were cast for the PAP, while 54,850 votes went to the WP.

Notably, Tan Chuan-Jin resigned from both his role as Parliament Speaker and as an MP last month due to his extramarital affair with another PAP MP.