Singapore’s PM raises family feud in parliament
Print Edition
PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday strongly rejected as “baseless” claims from his siblings of abuse of power and nepotism as he faced parliament over a political drama that has shocked tightly-controlled Singapore.
The leader was seeking to draw a line under an escalating feud about his late father and the country’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, which has captivated the wealthy city-state where speaking so openly against the first family is rare and critics have in the past been taken to court.
The dispute burst into the open last month when the premier’s brother and sister launched attacks on social media — which quickly went viral — accusing him of exploiting their father’s legacy for his own political agenda and seeking to groom his son as a future leader.
They have also raised questions about his wife, who is chief executive of state investment fund Temasek Holdings.
The elder Lee, who led Singapore for three decades and died in March, 2015, is widely revered for having transformed the former British colony into one of the world’s wealthiest societies.
In a closely watched speech to parliament, Lee, 65, said the allegations levelled at him by his brother and sister were “entirely baseless.”
“I know many Singaporeans are upset by this issue. They are tired of the subject, and wish it would end,” he told the legislature, which is dominated by lawmakers from his long-ruling People’s Action Party.
“As a son, I am pained at the anguish this strife would have caused my parents if they were still alive,” he added.
People who have publicly criticized the first family have in the past faced libel suits but the leader said he would not sue his brother and sister as the process could drag on for years and “further besmirch my parents’ names.”
Low Thia Khiang, leader of the opposition Workers’ Party, challenged him to take the pair to court, saying that “not doing so would risk the government giving the impression that it is afraid of what the Lee siblings might say or reveal.”
The prime minister had called for an open debate in parliament after the attacks on Facebook against him and his wife Ho Ching.
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