A day after refusing to withdraw several statements on Facebook and being called out for unparliamentary conduct, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament NCMP Leong Mun Wai of the Progress Singapore Party deleted parts of his post on Thursday.
The Facebook post, which he made on Monday, had called into question the government's characterisation of Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs LeeLee Suet Fern, which led to a ministerial statement on Wednesday by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who repeatedly quizzed Mr Leong about his understanding of the police investigation of the Lees for lying under oath over Singapore's former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's will.
On Thursday, Mr Leong said he had withdrawn part of his statements. This included a line accusing Mr Shanmugam of bringing up a past theft case with Indonesian domestic worker Parti Liyani tomuddy the waters. In his explanation, Mr Leong said that the post was initially intended to raise certain points that were weighing on his mind after he had deliberated on Mr Shanmugam's response to his parliamentary question on Monday.
As I confirmed in Parliament, it was not my intention to cast aspersions on the Ministers or act in an unparliamentary manner. Mr Leong said the points were raised solely in the public interest.
He also deleted parts of his Facebook post that stated that Mr. Shanmugam and Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean had run the risk of turning Parliament into a platform to colour public opinion on criminal matters. Absconding is a criminal offence and it should be up to the courts to decide whether Mr and Mrs Lee have done so. Mr Leong wrote earlier that it was not for the minister to pre-judge on that score. We need more clarity to make sure that a double standard is not being practised.