Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament that Mr Teo is his most senior minister in terms of years in Cabinet and experience.
He noted that some MPs had suggested on Monday that Mr Teo was not sufficiently independent to conduct the investigation, but PM Lee said he viewed it differently.
For corruption and wrongdoing, there is an independent process in place, such as the CPIB investigation and referral to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“But ethics and standards of property – those are the prime minister’s responsibility. I have to set the standards of what’s ethical, what’s proper,” he said.
“I cannot outsource them. For example, to appoint an ethics adviser to tell me what is proper or not proper. I have to know what is proper or not. Otherwise I shouldn’t be here.”
Why it matters:
Workers’ Party MPs Leon Perera (Aljunied GRC) and He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) questioned if there were other individuals who were considered to head the review and why an independent third party such as the Auditor-General’s Office or an independent judge could not have done so instead of SM Teo, who is a senior colleague of the ministers concerned.
Mr Teo was also aware of Mr Shanmugam wanting to rent an SLA property at the time.
According to the report, Mr Shanmugam told the then Deputy Secretary that he should approach then Senior Minister of State in MinLaw, Ms Indranee Rajah, on discussions related to the rental of the property should the matter have to be referred to the Minister.
He then informed SM Teo if the matter had to go beyond Ms Indranee, she would approach him.
There was no matter raised by SLA to MinLaw during the entire rental process.
READ MORE HERE: Shanmugam, Vivian have done nothing wrong and retain his full confidence: PM Lee on Ridout Road saga