Singapore parliament speaker, MP resign over affair

Speaker Tan Chuan Jin and MP Cheng Li Hui

SINGAPORE, AFP: Singapore’s parliament speaker and a woman MP resigned Monday over an “inappropriate” affair, plunging the ruling party into further turmoil following a rare high-level corruption probe involving a cabinet minister.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he accepted the resignations of speaker Tan Chuan Jin and MP Cheng Li Hui to “maintain the high standards of propriety and personal conduct” of the People’s Action Party (PAP). He said they were in an “inappropriate relationship” that continued even after he had told them to stop in February.

The political drama was the latest development to rock the PAP, which has ruled Singapore uninterrupted for 64 years and has prided itself on a corruption-free government.

Last week, Transport Minister S. Iswaran was arrested by the city-state’s powerful Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in a rare probe into high-level corruption.

He is out on bail and is helping the bureau with its investigation. Before that, two senior cabinet ministers were probed for alleged irregularities in their rental of sprawling housing properties in the land-scarce nation, but both were subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.

Lee told reporters that the 54-year-old speaker, who is married with two children, offered to resign earlier this year when he spoke to him about the affair.

Lee accepted his resignation but it was to take effect when arrangements for his replacement for his district were made. The prime minister also said he told the speaker to end the affair.

Premier Lee, asked if there was an erosion in PAP standards, said that “from time to time these things happen” but assured that the party was dealing with the issues decisively.

“No system can be completely infallible,” he said.