Reform Party’s SG had on July 12th called for the resignation of Tan Chuan Jin as being unfit to be Speaker after he was overheard using foul expletives and displaying open partisan bias from his Chair in Parliament.

The parliament website on the role of the Speaker says: “In carrying out the duties in the House, the Speaker must remain impartial and fair to all MPs. The Speaker regulates and enforces the rules of debate. He decides who has the right to speak.(…) MPs look to the Speaker for guidance on procedures”

In the light of new revelations that the Speaker of the House Tan Chuan Jin and fellow PAP MP, Cheng Li Hui, have both resigned over an “inappropriate relationship” Reform Party is shocked that he was not compelled to resign at the first sign that he lacked the impartiality that the role of Speaker demands.

RP is gratified however to see the Prime Minister recognise our call for his resignation over the hot mic incident. Speaking about the affair PM Lee said that it was “completely unacceptable and both had to go’

He added,

”But it so happened that the hot mic came up and therefore precipitated this moment”

We commend Workers Party Janus Lim for his dignified response.

Reform Party doesn’t believe in policing the private lives of consenting adults but this is a public matter. In this case Tan Chuan Jin was the Speaker of Parliament. Having an affair, and we learn today a long term affair, with an MP in the House throws him open to accusations of bias when it is his role to determine who is allowed to speak and how and whether to discipline them. His position would have allowed him to favour his mistress or indeed overcompensate by not calling on her. This is not a matter of personal “embarrassment” for PM Lee. It goes to the heart of our parliamentary system.

The PM admits to knowing about the affair since sometime after GE2020. LHL says that the pair were spoken to as recently as February this year. We question the judgement of the PM in allowing Tan to continue in his role as Speaker from the very first time that he knew about the affair and for keeping this knowledge from parliament and the people. LHL must have known that the affair would make it impossible for Tan to defend himself in the event of accusations of partisan bias, at least in regard to Cheng Ii Hui. Nothing can be more important for confidence in the House than confidence in the impartiality of the speaker and It should not have taken the hot mic incident.

Unlike in the UK whose system our parliament is based on, in Singapore the PM nominates the speaker who is voted in by the House. In 2013 the revelation that Michael Palmer speaker of the house was having an affair with one of his grassroots volunteers, led to Palmer’s immediate resignation. Palmer had also been nominated by PM Lee.

Reform Party calls for an immediate by-election in all GRCs missing elected representatives. Tan and Cheng’s resignations mean that Marine Parade and Tampines join Sengkang and Jurong in lacking MPs. Although no charges have been brought against Iswaran if he resigns or is found guilty, West Coast will also be missing an MP. In addition the deputy speaker of the house, Chris de Souza was found guilty of professional misconduct by a disciplinary tribunal of the law society but is currently appealing. Should that appeal fail he may also have to resign.

The decision on if and when to call by-elections should not be in the personal gift of the PM. As the courts in the Mdm Velema case showed us, Singapore is not the PMs personal fiefdom. No matter what arrangements are made for power sharing in that GRC the people are being denied a representative that they personally voted for. RP also calls for the power to nominate speakers to be removed form the PM and put in the hands of the House.

In the event that multiple by-elections are required, the Reform Party demands that the PM call an immediate General Election and that the PM fulfill his commitment to retirement before that GE

Published by kjeyaretnam

I'm a Singaporean economist who became an opposition activist. I blog to provide an alternative to the porkies that the Pinkies tell. It just so happens that my alternative is the truth. That's why I've never been sued in any civil or criminal court no matter how hard hitting my criticism. I'm quoted and interviewed and asked to speak across the world but largely censored in Singapore in an effort to silence my political opinions. The left hate me because they think I split their vote and because I eschew their outmoded economic models. Models that don't work. The Right and the Conservatives hate me because I'm a liberal. I'm not sure what the middle think of me. I don't think there are more than a handful of people in the middle, here in Singapore. I'm a Singaporean born and bred, dual heritage, my parents Singaporean established here before the State of Singapore was created. I'm not Eurasian. I read economics at Cambridge and could be broadly described as from the Keynesian school but I believe in interventions. I was formerly a successful hedge fund manager. After economics and politics my greatest interests are history, film and Makan. I run but I run so I can eat like a Singaporean. View all posts by kjeyaretnam