Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong may have done right by Singaporeans by wanting to put a satisfactory end to the ongoing family feud that’s dominated news headlines the past week, but the way he’s doing so — discussing the matter in Parliament — is raising some concerns in itself.
Some context. After several days too long of public back-and-forth between him and his siblings in a dispute about their father (Lee Kuan Yew)’s will, PM Lee apologized for all the drama and wants to deal with all the allegations in a Parliamentary meeting.
“They must be and will be dealt with openly and refuted,” he insists, and plans to refute the charges on July 3. He even urges all Members of Parliament (including those from the opposition) to grill him about the matter.
But here’s the thing — which sane individual would dare to jeopardize their career by going HAM on their boss?
In all likelihood, the prime minister will only be fielding softball questions by MPs under the People’s Action Party banner, and it’ll be up to the figures from The Worker’s Party and non-constituency MPs to really dig deep. If the siblings of PM Lee dealt some serious accusations about their very powerful brother of misusing his authority, there has to be a significant reason, no?
While The Worker’s Party have already prepared their questions for the Parliamentary meeting, others have voiced out their unease in letting the prime minister set a convenient arena for himself when he’s the one being examined. Check out some arguments against his decision of having the matter play out in Parliament.