Singapore prime minister’s brother joins opposition party ahead of July 10 election

Lee Hsien Yang, the estranged brother of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has joined the opposition Progress Singapore Party a day after the city-state called for general elections to be held in July.

“I joined the party because I think that Dr. Tan is committed to doing the right thing for Singapore,” he told reporters Wednesday following a breakfast meeting with party founder Tan Cheng Bock. “There are issues of income inequality, there are issues of poverty, there are issues of governance and transparency, there are issues around housing, there are many issues that are alive.”

Lee declined to say if he would be contesting in the July 10 election, but said he would be contributing to the party “in many ways.”

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The city-state's parliament was dissolved Tuesday for a general election on July 10, even as the country struggles to recover from a major coronavirus outbreak that has swept through migrant worker dormitories.

Lee Hsien Yang is locked in a long-running row with his sibling, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, accusing him of seeking to capitalise on the legacy of their father, Singapore's late founding leader.

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Tan, a popular figure who was once a lawmaker with the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), said that Lee Hsien Yang was "not just an ordinary person."

"His father is the founder of Singapore, so that's very important," he said.

Their party, launched last year, will not threaten the PAP's decades-long hold on power but the combination of a Lee family member and Tan could draw some voters away from the ruling party, observers believe.

Lee Hsien Yang, a business executive, and his sister Lee Wei Ling fell out with their prime minister brother following the death of their father, Lee Kuan Yew, in 2015.

The Lee family row centres on allegations made by the premier's siblings that he is seeking to block the demolition of a family bungalow to capitalise on Lee Kuan Yew's legacy – something he has denied.