Paul Tambyah: 3 PAP Speakers did not complete their terms, perhaps it’s time to consider independent or neutral Speaker

SINGAPORE: Singapore Democratic Party chairman Dr Paul Anantharajah Tambyah tackled two issues in a recent Facebook post related to the Speaker of Parliament.

For the first issue, he wished all the best to Mr Seah Kian Peng after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the intent to nominate Mr Seah as the next Speaker of Parliament on Friday (June 21). The PAP MP (Marine Parade GRC) served as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore from 2011 to 2016.

“Singaporeans should give him a second chance to show ‘neutrality and impartiality as Speaker’ so that ‘the credibility of Parliament and the Chair (which) is critical and cannot be compromised’ as the former Speaker put it,” wrote Dr Tambyah.

In 2018, Mr Seah issued a public apology to the SDP, as Mr Seah had erroneously said in a Facebook post that former political detainee Teo Soh Lung was associated with the party.

Dr Tambyah attached SDP’s acknowledgement and acceptance of the apology, written by party secretary-general Dr Chee Soon Juan.

The second issue Dr Tambyah raised was a suggestion concerning who should be House Speaker.

“As none of the last three speakers of parliament who were PAP MPs have completed their terms for a variety of reasons, perhaps it is time to consider an independent or neutral speaker as we had in our first two parliaments. We could maybe consider a distinguished law professor like Prof Tommy Koh or Kevin Tan or former judge like former AG VK Rajah?” he wrote.

Last week, Mr Tan Chuan Jin, who began serving as House Speaker in 2017, resigned over an extramarital affair with former Tampines GRC MP Ms Cheng Li Hui, who also stepped down.

President Halimah Yacob had been a speaker before Mr Tan’s term, beginning in 2013. However, she stepped down to mount a presidential bid in 2017.

And before Mdm Halimah was speaker, Prime Minister Lee nominated Michael Palmer as Speaker in 2011. However, he resigned the following year due to an extramarital affair. /TISG

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