I wanted to resolve issue privately, not in court: PM Lee
PM Lee Hsien Loong (left), Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang. TODAY file photos
SINGAPORE — Responding to calls by Members of Parliament (MPs) that he should settle the running dispute with his siblings in court, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday (July 4)that he had wanted to manage the issue privately right from the start. He did not want it to escalate and then be forced to take legal action.
On Monday, several MPs, including Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang, had urged the Prime Minister to take legal action to clear his name, given the serious allegations levelled by his siblings. Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling had accused PM Lee of abusing his power in a bid to stop them from carrying out their late father's will to demolish their family home at 38 Oxley Road.
Mr Low had noted that individuals who made "less serious allegations" have been dealt with under libel and there was no reason why this case should be different.
Recounting the history of how the disagreement with his siblings started, PM Lee said in his closing speech that one thread running through his approach to the matter was his "desire to manage the issue privately, without escalating the temperature and the dispute, and without forcing the issue of (his) legal rights".
"I adopted this approach because it involved family. And I was hoping all along to work out an amicable resolution, even if that meant compromising some of my own interest," he told the House.
Even when the dispute spilled into the public sphere on June 14, when his siblings launched their protest against him on Facebook, PM Lee said that he chose to disclose the facts and released a summary of his statutory declarations.
He noted that again, he did not take the legal route and sue for defamation in this first instance.
"At each point, I decided not to try to enforce my full legal rights. My priority was to resolve the matter privately and avoid a collision," he said.
Reiterating what he said on Monday, PM Lee said that under normal circumstances, he would "surely sue" because the accusations of the abuse of power are "so grave", but suing his brother and sister in court would "further besmirch" their parents' name.
The Lee siblings, all in their 60s, are the children of Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died in March 2015.
On the opposition party MP's comments that the ruling People's Action Party had been known to be quick to sue political opponents and critics, PM Lee said: "Mr Low may think that doesn't count, and it is neither here nor there. I take a different view."
He added that going to court would not achieve the "quick resolution" Mr Low expects. "It would drag out the process for years, cause further distress to Singaporeans, and distract us from the many urgent issues that we must deal with," he said.
