Lee family feud: Singapore’s prime minister falls silent, as his lieutenants speak out
Signs the Singapore government is seeking common ground with Lee Hsien Loong’s estranged siblings
Two weeks after the bitter feud in the family of the late Lee Kuan Yew erupted in public, his eldest son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is appearing keen on tamping down the quarrel, with the embattled leader declaring he will next address the abuse of power claims made by his siblings in parliament next week. His government meanwhile took on a less adversarial tone by the end of yesterday, changing tact from sharp comments against the premier’s siblings early on in the feud.
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Since then, the two younger siblings have made a total of 35 posts on Facebook, substantiating their initial statement and responding to rejoinders by their brother and his supporters.
COMMITTEE UNDER SCRUTINY
Lee Hsien Loong, who took over as premier in 2004, has strongly denied his siblings’ accusations.
He has said he recused himself from government decisions on the future of the home, but privately wanted his father’s wish to be honoured. The premier’s senior lieutenants have echoed these points this week.
On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said Lee Hsien Yang had a “misconception” that the four-man ministerial committee headed by him “is bent on preventing the demolition of the house”.
“If, for example, Dr Lee Wei Ling ceases to live in the house next month, then cabinet will have to decide next month. If she stays there for 30 more years, then the government in place, in 30 years, will have to decide,” Teo said.
The special committee is made up of the deputy premier, law and home affairs minister K. Shanmugam, culture and youth minister Grace Fu, and national development minister Lawrence Wong.
SEEKING COMMON GROUND
Teo’s statement also appeared to show the government was trying to find some common ground with the siblings. The deputy premier said he opposed extreme measures such as complete demolition of the house, but there were a “range of viable intermediate options between these”. He added: “There should be no need to disagree on studying the options for the time when a decision needs to be made.”
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“Their letters largely focused on parroting [Lee Hsien Loong’s] attacks on our father’s will,” said Lee Hsien Yang, a prominent corporate figure and former military general. Last week he revealed that despite repeated enquiries for a year, he and his sister had not been informed of the committee’s make-up or remit.
On Wednesday evening, online chatter on the saga appeared muted with no new missives fired by both sides. Meanwhile, all eyes in the Lion City will be on the parliament sitting on Monday.
Premier Lee has said he will lift the parliamentary whip of his ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) – which holds 83 out of 89 seats, allowing government lawmakers to grill him about the saga without worrying about overstepping party lines. There are no indications whether the PAP will table a vote on the matter.