Commentary: Can Parliament Hold Party Leaders Accountable?

Dear Speaker of Parliament,

I chanced upon an article on ST which I rarely read, except for updates to what is occurring around Singapore on the Home Edition and saw what you told the State Media on “Parliament committed to holding government accountable.”

I got a little curious as to how can Parliament hold your party leaders accountable when 83 of 93 seats, including yours are subjected to party whipping while the following list of sticking questions from the previous session of Parliament remain unresolved?

1. Summoning Lee Hsien Yang & Dr Lee Wei Ling to give their side of the story to the 38 Oxley Rd saga

2. Open a parliamentary enquiry into the appointment of family and friends to key positions such as the AG, DAG & AGO etc.

3. Updating Singaporeans on the outcome of the embarrassing Keppel corruption case & if key stake holders will still be held LIABLE for either the corrupt act itself or “negligence” similar to the AHTC ruling

4. For your (former) deputy, Charles Chong to be referred to the Committee of Privileges for disciplinary action into the alleged false dissemination of Punggol East Town Council matters

5. For Parliament to convene a constitutional court to look into the alleged systematic discrimination of minorities being unable to assent for Premiership, don hijab as the reserved president has stated her difficulties in concurring with the cabinet to do so

6. Review of executive actions and controversial bilateral agreements such as the CECA, alleged gerrymandering, population growth and most important of them all, the salary of sovereign wealth fund CEO Mdm Ho Ching

In view of the above circumstances, is Parliament able to extract answers to these contentious issues?

Additionally, please advise if Parliament is still a forum for the people and of the people for us to submit queries to, in the event our PAP MPs are unwilling to do so?

Sincerely,
Dan De Costa