'Everybody should draw the right conclusions': PM Lee on perception that 'PAP standards are slipping'

The People's Action Party (PAP) has been in the news lately more than they would've probably liked.

First it was the Ridout Road saga, then came Transport Minister S. Iswaran's arrest and subsequent release on bail.

During a press conference following the resignations of Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and Member of Parliament (MP) Cheng Li Hui on Monday (July 17), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that these things happen from time to time.

He was responding to a reporter's question on how the incidents have led to "some perception among the public that there is a slip in PAP's standards".

"I think from time to time, these things happen," PM Lee said.

"When they happen, we have to make sure we deal with them rigorously as well as transparently, and everybody can see that we are doing that.

"I think everybody should draw the right conclusions and do the right things, whether they are in the government, whether they are in the party or the public watching how we are dealing with it."

On the Ridout Road case involving ministers K. Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan, PM Lee shared that it is an example of how the PAP deals with allegations against its MPs.

The probe against Iswaran came up after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau came across the issue while doing another investigation, according to the Prime Minister.

PM Lee said: "After a few months it came back to me, they said, 'There is something to this, we want to open a formal investigation'.

"I studied the paper, I said, 'Yes, proceed', and that is what they have done, and it will go through to its full conclusion."

Addressing the resignations of Tan and Cheng due to an inappropriate relationship, PM Lee said that they did not live up to the high standards expected of all PAP MPs.

"We tried to get them to mend their ways, it did not work, and they had to go," he added.

PM Lee also said: "This is how the system has to function. Sometimes things cluster up, but we make sure we put them right, and I hope I put them right and we will be able to set the right tone for a long time to come."

"Because we are not just maintaining high standards for one election term or one generation of leaders," he explained.

He also recounted one of the last speeches of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who had said: "Remember, never let the system go corrupt. Never, never let that happen. Uphold standards, make sure that Singapore can work."

"That is the key thing, and I am quite determined to do that and I am quite sure the 4G leaders are determined to do that too," PM Lee said. 

chingshijie@asiaone.com