SINGAPORE: Singa­pore’s parliament speaker and a woman MP resigned on Monday over an “inappropriate” affair, plunging the ruling party into further turmoil following a rare high-level corruption probe involving a cabinet minister.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he accepted the resignations of speaker Tan Chuan Jin and MP Cheng Li Hui to “maintain the high standards of propriety and personal conduct” of the People’s Action Party (PAP).

He said they were in an “inappropriate relationship” that continued even after he had told them to stop in February.

The political drama was the latest development to rock the PAP, which has ruled Singapore uninterrupted for 64 years and has prided itself on a corruption-free government.

Last week, Transport Minister S. Iswaran was arrested by the city-state’s powerful Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in a rare probe into high-level corruption.

He is out on bail and is helping the bureau with its investigation.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2023