Two Singapore governing party MPs resigned in rare political drama

Two Singapore governing party MPs resigned in the rare political drama. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on Monday that two lawmakers from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), including the house speaker, have resigned.

The Prime Minister stated that the resignations were necessary to uphold the party’s standards.

Resignations of senior PAP members are uncommon in Singapore, as the party has been in power since 1959, prior to the country’s independence in 1965.

In a statement, Lee mentioned that speaker Tan Chuan-Jin had “fallen short” in terms of personal conduct and expressed understanding for his decision to step away from politics in order to assist in resolving family matters.

No further details were provided regarding the reasons behind Tan’s resignation.

The other lawmaker, Cheng Li Hui, who has been a member of parliament since 2015, also resigned. However, no reason was given for her departure, and attempts to reach her for comment were unsuccessful.

At the time of the announcement, her Facebook page had been taken down.

Lee emphasized that the resignations were necessary to maintain the PAP’s long-standing commitment to high standards of propriety and personal conduct.

Singapore has recently experienced a series of political developments, including last week’s arrests of Transport Minister S Iswaran and hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng as part of a rare high-level graft probe. As of now, there have been no comments from the individuals under investigation regarding the ongoing inquiries.

Speaker Tan’s resignation follows the circulation of a video clip on social media in which he is heard making insulting remarks about another lawmaker, apparently unaware that his microphone was still on.

Tan acknowledged his mistake in a resignation letter, cited by the Prime Minister’s office, in which he expressed regret for uttering rude and unparliamentary words during a session.

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