S'pore in 'sweet spot' as politics and policies work constructively together: PM Lee

Civil service must be neutral and non-political and yet politically sensitive and responsive, he says at Admin Service event

Lee U-Wen

Published Tue, Apr 26, 2016 · 09:50 PM

Singapore politics

Singapore

THE civil service, whose primary responsibility is to develop effective policies, must serve the elected government of the day under the Singapore system, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday.

Even so, all civil servants should remain "politically impartial" and should not campaign for or against any political party, he told some 300 officers at the Administrative Service's annual promotion ceremony.

"The civil service is not independent of the elected government, unlike the judiciary, which is a differen…