Hazel Poa, the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) representing the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), has recently filed a motion requesting the suspension of Transport Minister S Iswaran’s Member of Parliament (MP) status.
This move follows the ongoing investigation of Mr. Iswaran by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
In her Facebook post on September 8, Ms. Poa stated that she initiated the motion on September 7, aiming to suspend Mr. Iswaran “for the remainder of the current session of the 14th Parliament.”
Ms. Poa’s rationale behind her motion is that Mr. Iswaran should not continue to receive his MP allowance, which amounts to S$192,500 (US$141,152) annually, while he has been directed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong not to perform any official duties during the investigation.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong previously said in his Ministerial Statement on August 2 that Iswaran was interdicted and his salary would be reduced to S$8,500 per month during his suspension.
According to the Public Service Division, the amount is about 15% of the benchmark level of the ministerial salary of $55,000 per month, and Iswaran is also still allowed to draw his annual MP allowance of $192,500, according to Channel NewsAsia.
The Ongoing Debate
Yesterday, I filed a motion for Parliament to suspend Mr S Iswaran from the service of Parliament for the remainder of the current session of the 14th Parliament, so that he no longer receives his MP allowance of $192,500 per year while he has been requested by the Prime Minister to not perform any official duties during his investigation by CPIB. The motion will be debated in Parliament on or after 19th September 2023.
At the next sitting of Parliament, I will also introduce a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act 1962 to ensure that Parliament has the power to back-pay Minister Iswaran should he subsequently be cleared of any wrongdoing and resume his official duties.