Iswaran's political standing hit by CPIB probe, regardless of outcome: Analysts
Transport Minister S Iswaran has been placed on a leave of absence until the investigation by the anti-corruption agency is completed.
Iswaran's political standing hit by CPIB probe, regardless of outcome: Analysts
Transport Minister S Iswaran launches Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line on a visit to the East Coast Integrated Depot on Sep 20, 2022. (Photo: CNA/Chew Hui Min)
Chew Hui Min
SINGAPORE: Regardless of the outcome of a corruption probe involving Mr S Iswaran, the Transport Minister's political standing would be affected in a country where there is "zero tolerance for corruption", analysts said.
On Wednesday morning (Jul 12), the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said the minister is assisting with an investigation into a case uncovered by the anti-graft agency.
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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the formal investigation began on Tuesday and that he instructed Mr Iswaran to go on a leave of absence until the investigation is complete.
CPIB gave no details on what the probe was about.
Political analysts CNA spoke to emphasised that Mr Iswaran, as with any other accused, should be deemed innocent unless proven guilty.
"However, that it entails an investigation is bad for optics, a term referred to extensively in recent months," said Dr Tan Ern Ser, Associate Professor of Sociology at NUS.
"I believe it will affect his standing for now in 'zero tolerance for corruption' Singapore," he added.
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Mr S Iswaran has been Transport Minister since 2021. He is concurrently Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The former public servant joined politics in 1997 and was appointed to the Cabinet in 2006.
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Law professor Eugene Tan said that regardless of the outcome of the investigation, it leaves Mr Iswaran’s political career "in grave doubt".
"His political standing will be severely impacted. The ruling party will have to decide whether to field him in the next General Election, even if he is cleared by CPIB and AGC (Attorney-General's Chambers)," he said.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Dr Eugene Tan, who is an associate professor of law from the Singapore Management University, added that being put on a leave of absence suggests that there is "preliminary credible evidence that laws may have been broken".
"To avoid investigations being compromised should Mr Iswaran continue to exercise his powers and duties, it is proper for PM Lee to put him on leave of absence to uphold the integrity of the ongoing investigations," he said.
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Dr Gillian Koh, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, pointed out a few differences between this CPIB investigation and the recently concluded one on Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan for renting state property.
One is that the CPIB had uncovered this case, unlike the Ridout Road matter, where the Prime Minister had asked the anti-corruption agency to establish if there was any wrongdoing.
"If there had been anything to the latter, and CPIB felt there was a prima facie case after initial investigations, we can be confident that it would escalate to the status of the current case of Minister Iswaran," said Dr Koh. "In the event, CPIB found no wrongdoing in the Ridout one."
