Transport Minister S. Iswaran had his monthly pay reduced to $8,500 until further notice when he was relieved of his ministerial duties, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament on Wednesday.
In delivering his ministerial statement on the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigation involving Mr Iswaran, PM Lee said he had used the current civil service practice as a reference point since such incidents involving ministers were rare, and that there was no rule or precedent on how to effect an interdiction on a political office-holder.
“The specific details in Minister Iswaran’s case follow generally how the civil service would deal with a senior officer in a similar situation. But this was my decision as PM because the political contexts for a minister and a civil servant being investigated and interdicted are different,” he said.
According to the Public Service Division, as at 2012, when ministerial salaries were last adjusted, the monthly salary of a minister at benchmark level is $55,000, which works out to an annual salary of $1,100,000. The fixed salary, including the 13th month, is $715,000. The rest is variable.
PM Lee told the House that the CPIB came across information concerning Mr Iswaran that merited investigation and alerted him on May 29. He said the bureau pursued the lead further of its own volition.
“Nobody tipped them off. There had been no public scandal. CPIB came across something that needed investigating and proceeded to do their job,” PM Lee said.
The Straits Times
