A week has passed since Pritam's appeal was dismissed but so far no action has been taken by him or the party itself. Surely a criminal conviction of the leader should meet with some reaction but I suspect we're going to see them try and wait it out, and then attempt to carry on pretending that it never happened.
The problem is that while it may save Pritam it will hurt the opposition as a whole – or at least all those in it who dare not criticise him today.
No matter what happens their credibility will be hurt. It already has been.
Now it's just a choice between accepting a sharp sting of Pritam's resignation or having him burden them with his criminal record for as long as he remains in politics.
There's currently no chance for any opposition party (nor their coalition) to seize power from the PAP. Their self-described role has become being a check on the government. And that's fine, NCMP scheme actually guarantees that no matter the outcome of the election.
But to play that role they have to be clean themselves.
How often are they trying to take the moral high ground when criticising the government and calling for more transparency with the public on any number of matters?
And how is that going to sound now that their leader has been sentenced for a deliberate lie under oath and they did nothing? After he expelled Daniel Goh for merely asking questions? After failing to address Raeesah's lie for months, what even Low Thia Khiang found strange?
Where's that transparency?
From December 4 onward, every single time any opposition member dares to question the government on anything, the implicit response is always going to be – "have you dealt with Pritam that you dare to lecture us?"
It's not just a criminal conviction, after all. Even president Tharman picked one up almost 40 years ago. But that was for negligence, a mistake, an error, not a deliberate attempt to distort the truth under oath given to the very parliament Pritam represents.
As long as he's around you can't question the PAP without disavowing him first.
Otherwise the opposition cannot serve its role.
Yes, if he steps down it would be a disaster, given his personal appeal – and how lacking all potential replacements are.
But it would be a brief pain, a sharp sting, after which healing could begin. An opportunity for the opposition to show that it truly has public interest at heart and holds honesty and integrity above the party's political calculations.
Pritam staying on would turn it into a slow bleed. Yeah, the handsome face would still be there but nothing he says could be trusted anymore, so who needs opposition like that?
Its supporters love to claim how much better they are than the big bad PAP. With Pritam around they can't.
Of course the die hard fans will stand by him no matter what, but any attempt to win more ground from the PAP is forever going to be made much tougher by his presence. You can't pretend to be offering a superior alternative to the government if you're demonstrably worse than you claim it is.
Lying under oath is like breaking a marriage vow. It taints the relationship forever. It may even be forgiven, but it will never be forgotten.
