Aamir LatifKARACHI, Pakistan
Singapore’s new minister, Lawrence Wong, will be sworn in on Wednesday amid a generational shift in the island’s politics.
Current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who has led the country for 20 years, will step down on the same day to hand over power to Wong, 51, who most recently served as deputy minister.
Wong will be Singapore’s fourth minister since independence in 1965, culminating the country’s long-planned transition to leadership.
He had been touted as the next prime minister since April 2022, when he was elected head of the fourth-generation team of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).
“I take on this duty with humility and a deep sense of duty. I promise to give my all in this effort,” Wong said on April 15, minutes after the Prime Minister’s Office announced the date of the handover.
The party’s initial selection for the most sensible post, Heng Swee Keat, a former central bank leader and education minister, resigned in 2021 to pave the way for a younger user to lead the country.
Complicated times
The new prime minister, who entered politics thirteen years ago, takes the reins at a time when the country faces a variety of domestic challenges, as well as a cost-of-living and immigration crisis, while the government is also rocked by a rare problem. corruption scandal.
In addition, we are in a more problematic time for the world, with wars in Europe and the Middle East and uncertainty in the global economy.
However, political analysts say he is not a novice in management and foreign affairs and that he travels the country to establish ties with his partners.
More recently, in April, Wong, the finance minister, visited Germany and France. In 2023, he visited the United States and met with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped Wong gain exposure.
He praised him for leading the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic as co-chair of the working group on COVID-19 along with Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Minister of Commerce and Industry Gan Kim Yong.
The new will be “probed”
Nestled between Malaysia and Indonesia, this small island country plays an important role in foreign affairs as the key best friend of the United States and China.
According to outgoing Prime Minister Lee, who is now 72, others will test his successor’s position at the national level, as well as his ability to interact and protect himself.
“I think the new team will be sounded out, for sure. If we try it, well, gently, disorders will arise, and other people might push a little harder, or not,” he said in an interview with the local New Straits Times newspaper when asked. if Singapore could be tested amid the upcoming leadership transition. . .