Singapore’s transport minister has resigned from his post after being charged with 27 charges in a corruption probe that also implicated a billionaire hotel tycoon.
S. Iswaran was arrested and released on bail in July 2023 in connection with an unusual top-level corruption probe in the city-state.
Iswaran, 61, said when he appeared in court yesterday that he would plead not guilty to the charges brought by the powerful Corrupt Practices Bureau.
Immediately after the hearing, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed that Iswaran submitted his resignation from the government, parliament and the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) on January 16 after receiving formal notice of the charges.
Lee said Iswaran also promised to return money he had received as part of his salary and allowances since his arrest.
“I deny the charges and will now focus on clearing my name,” Iswaran said in his resignation letter published on the Prime Minister’s Office website.
Most of the charges against Iswaran relate to corruption, but he also faces one charge of obstruction of justice.
Among other accusations, he is accused of accepting tickets to high-profile sporting events and stage shows from hotel magnate Ong Beng Sen, one of Singapore’s richest men.
Mr Ong, the managing director of Hotel Properties Limited, was arrested on the same day as Mr Iswaran in 2023 and was also released on bail. Mr Ong is credited with helping organize his F1 Grand Prix in Singapore in 2008.
A representative for Mr Ong declined to comment.
The corruption probe has shaken Singapore, where workers are paid salaries comparable to high earners in the private sector in an effort to fight corruption.
Mr Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University, said Mr Iswaran’s corruption case was the “most politically significant” case in Singapore’s history and said it was a “body blow” to the PAP.
“However, an impartial observer, looking at Singapore’s track record and how this case has been handled so far, would argue that this strong anti-corruption stance is just lip service. I don’t think it will come to that,” he said. He said.
The charges date back to 2015.
Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, said questions remain about why these were not discovered sooner and “whether there was an adequate degree of transparency and public reporting by senior officials in Singapore’s system.” He said there was.
“It also raises questions about whether high wages are enough to deter corruption. People can always ask for more,” he added.
Mr Lee previously admitted that the long-ruling PAP had taken a “batter” following a series of political scandals.
In addition to Iswaran’s arrest last year, two PAP MPs resigned over extramarital affairs. Before that, two senior cabinet ministers were investigated for allegedly taking advantage of renting vast colonial-era bungalows, but were later cleared of wrongdoing.
Mr. Lee faces criticism of a lack of transparency in the government’s response to scandals and questions about whether the standards set by the party’s founding leaders have been eroded.
The scandal comes as the party, which has ruled uninterrupted for 64 years, is recovering from its worst-ever election result in 2020, when its share of the popular vote fell and opposition parties gained seats.
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who is expected to succeed Lee before the 2025 general election, told local media yesterday that the PAP’s anti-corruption stance was “non-negotiable”.
Agence France-Presse