Singapore PM rejects sister's accusation of forming a 'dynasty'

By Reuters/Anshuman Daga April 10, 2016 | 09:08 pm PT

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivers remarks to reporters after a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama alongside the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia November 22, 2015. : Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was accused by his younger sister of abusing his power and of forming a political dynasty, just one year after the death of their father Lee Kuan Yew, in a rare public spat.

"I am deeply saddened by my sister Dr Lee Wei Ling's claim that I have abused my power to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's passing in order to establish a dynasty. The accusations are completely untrue," the prime minister said in a Facebook page on Sunday evening.

The prime minister's office declined further comment on Monday.

The post by the prime minister's sister came after she had expressed her disapproval over public activities by the government in March marking the first death anniversary of Singapore's founding prime minister.

She said in a Facebook post, which has since been removed, "HL has no qualms about abusing his power to hv (sic) a commemoration just one year after LKY died" and that "if the power that be wants to establish a dynasty, LKY's daughter will not allow LKY's name to be sullied by a dishonourable son."

Lee Wei Ling, a doctor, had regularly published her columns expressing personal views about Singapore and her father in the Straits Times in past years.

Lee Hsien Loong and his People's Action Party (PAP), which has ruled the city-state since its independence in 1965, won a convincing general election victory last year, months after the founding prime minister died in March 2015.

"The idea that I should wish to establish a dynasty makes even less sense. Meritocracy is a fundamental value of our society, and neither I, the PAP, nor the Singapore public would tolerate any such attempt," he said.