Worker’s Party chairman raised concerns over conflict of interest and the integrity of “organs of the state” in parliament today.
She was referring to Singapore’s top 2 lawmen, Attorney-General Lucien Wong and Deputy Attorney-General Hri Kumar Nair.
Lucien Wong, PM Lee Hsien Loong’s private lawyer, was appointed AG at 63 years old, when his predecessor was made to step down at the age of 60 as a matter of law.
Hri Kumar, a former PAP member and MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, took on the new Deputy AG post last year after he left the PAP.
Ms Lim asked whether the 2 men who head Singapore’s judiciary will recuse themselves from matters pertaining to the Lee Family Feud and 38 Oxley Road house.
“Has the AGC (Attorney-General’s Chambers) already been giving advice to the committee, and who within the AGC has been giving the advice.”
“Has the AG recused himself from touching the file, since he had represented PM Lee in his personal capacity as a beneficiary? What about the Deputy AG? I understand he has only recently resigned as a current member of the PAP. When was this? Will he recuse himself from the matter too, since his former party leader, the Secretary-General, is personally involved?”
Ms Lim also said that the AG it is a more powerful state actor than judges, who are constrained by laws passed in Parliament and questioned if the AG will be able to exercise his powers fairly:
“By contrast, the A-G as public prosecutor has almost absolute prosecutorial discretion,” she said, noting how the A-G has the discretion to charge people and can let people off without warning or reduce charges.”
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that all of us are at the mercy of the A-G. But each of us should be fairly treated by him, since under the constitution all of us are equal under the law and entitled to equal protection.”
She added that the integrity of organs of state should “be of concern to every Singaporean who wishes to see Singapore as a bastion that upholds the rule of law”.
“We must protect the organs of state as professional bodies with a national mission. The Government should never seek to interfere with or to influence those organs of state set up to ensure good governance.”
Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling have have said that state organs were being used to drive the personal agenda of PM Lee.
They also alluded to wrongdoing in the appointment of Lucien Wong as A-G in January this year, implying he had gotten the role because he served as PM Lee’s personal lawyer.
