Indranee staying on temporarily to ensure smooth workings: MinLaw
SINGAPORE — The considerable workload at the Ministry of Law (Minlaw) meant that, ideally, two political office holders are required at any one time to ensure smooth workings.
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SINGAPORE — The considerable workload at the Ministry of Law (Minlaw) meant that, ideally, two political office holders are required at any one time to ensure smooth workings.
And this is why Ms Indranee Rajah — who will be promoted to a minister from May 1 — will continue at the ministry in a new capacity as Second Minister for two more months, before Mr Edwin Tong comes onboard as Senior Minister of State, said a ministry spokesperson on Wednesday (April 25) in response to queries.
The leadership changes at Minlaw were among the Cabinet shake-up announced by the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
Following the reshuffle, Ms Indranee, who is currently Senior Minister of State (Law and Finance), will become a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office as well as Second Minister for Finance and Education. She will also be Second Minister for Law, albeit for a short period.
The ministry will continue to be helmed by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, and he will be supported by Mr Tong from July 1.
Mr Tong, a partner at Allen & Gledhill, earlier told TODAY he has to spend the next one to two months wrapping up his legal practice, and handing over pending cases to his colleagues.
The Minlaw spokesperson noted that the ministry "has for a long time had two office holders".
For the majority of Prof Jayakumar's tenure as Law Minister between 1988 to 2008, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee was the other political office holder in the ministry — rising through the ranks from Parliamentary Secretary to Senior Minister of State.
When Mr Shanmugam succeeded Prof Jayakumar as Minister for Law, he was first assisted by Assoc Prof Ho before the latter retired in 2011, followed by then-Senior Parliamentary Secretary Sim Ann, before Ms Indranee became Senior Minister of State for Law in November 2012.
"If Ms Indranee were to relinquish her MinLaw portfolio between May 1 and June 30, it would mean that there would be only one office holder for those two months, which would not be ideal given MinLaw's workload," the spokesperson reiterated.
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