Singapore, Jul 3 (PTI) Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today refuted allegations by his siblings that he misused his power and engaged in nepotism as he faced parliament over a family feud. The prime minister addressed Parliament at the start of a two-day debate on allegations of abuse of power in relation to his family house, a legacy of his late father and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, had lived and built his political stature from the house at 38 Oxley Road, on the outskirt of Central Business District and the fashionable Orchard Road. Lee also called on parliamentarians to raise all questions and doubts they had so they can be dispelled, and Singaporeans’ confidence in the government strengthened. “In Singapore, everyone is equal before the law. Lee (Kuan Yew) understood this most of all,” said the Prime Minister. “When the dust has settled on this unhappy episode, people must know that the Government operates transparently, impartially, and properly. That in Singapore, even Lee’s (Kuan Yew) house and his wishes are subject to the rule of law,” he said. “This is the ‘house’ that Lee (Kuan Yew) built, not 38, Oxley Road,” he added. The family quarrel was thrust into the national spotlight on June 14, when Lee’s sister Lee Wei Ling and younger brother Lee Hsien Yang released a statement accusing their elder brother of abusing his power to prevent the demolition of their father’s house. Both younger siblings want the house demolished, saying that is in accordance with their father’s wishes. Prime Minister Lee had earlier made it clear in Parliament that as a son, he supports his father’s wish on demolition. But Lee and Lee Hsien Yang have accused their elder brother of setting up a “secret” ministerial committee to challenge what they said was their father’s preferred wish to demolish the house, and of improperly acquiring a deed of gift for items to be used in an exhibition not long after Lee Kuan Yew’s death in March 2015. They also accused the prime minister and his wife Ho Ching of nepotism, saying they had political ambitions for their son Hongyi, and that Lee wanted the house to bolster his power. “Hongyi, my son, has publicly said he is not interested in politics. Nor have I pushed him to enter politics,” Lee said. Addressing each of these three claims in turn, the prime minister said he had recused himself from all government decisions relating to the house, and had no part in the decision to set up the committee, which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. Lee said his siblings had argued that even though he had recused himself from all government matters to do with 38, Oxley Road, the ministers are his subordinates. “Therefore, the Ministerial Committee cannot be independent from me. In fact, they say this of Parliament itself,” the prime minister noted. “This cannot be right. It is standard practice for the person facing a potential conflict of interest to recuse himself from the matter in this way,” he noted. PTI
