SINGAPORE

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong refuted Sunday claims by his sister accusing him of abusing his power in relation to the one-year anniversary of their father, the city-state’s first premier.

Channel News Asia reported that his sister Lee Wei Ling had earlier posted onto Facebook copies of correspondence with editors from The Straits Times in which she said that she and her brother “are at odds on a matter of principle" concerning the commemoration of Lee Kuan Yew’s death.

The content -- in which she also accused her brother of having “no qualms abusing his power to [have] a commemoration just one year after Lee Kuan Yew died" -- was removed Sunday afternoon.

Dr. Lee had written an opinion piece on the events marking the March 23 anniversary for the Times, but it was not published.

Later on Sunday, the premier also took to Facebook to say, “I am deeply saddened by my sister Dr Lee Wei Ling’s claim that I have abused my power to commemorate the one-year anniversary… in order to establish a dynasty."

Insisting that the claims were “completely untrue", he said that plans for the death anniversary had been discussed by his cabinet until he recommended that “we should leave it to ground-up efforts.”

The cabinet allegedly then reviewed the plans and approved them as they “expressed the sincerely felt sentiments of Singaporeans, which my Cabinet colleagues and I deeply appreciate."

He denied the claim that he wished to establish a dynasty, instead describing meritocracy as “a fundamental value of our society” and underlining that he as premier, the long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and the public would not tolerate any dynastic ambitions.

Earlier this month, Dr. Lee had posted on Facebook that she would no longer write for the Times’ publisher Singapore Press Holdings, saying that they did not allow her "freedom of speech".

"In fact, that was the reason why I posted the article that LKY would not want to be hero-worshipped," she said.

The late Lee was known as a nation-builder involved in transforming the former British outpost into a regional economic powerhouse, and under his premiership Singapore adopted policies that made it Southeast Asia's wealthiest and most competitive economy.

He co-founded the PAP in 1954, and led the party to a landslide win in 1959, when Singapore – then a British colony – was allowed to fully elect members of the Legislative Assembly for the first time.

The party has won every general election since, with Lee serving as prime minister for more than three decades, presiding over a period of rapid development and economic growth.

However, his rule has also drawn criticism for what some saw as high-handed tactics, including the detention of -- and filing of defamation lawsuits against -- political opponents and journalists.