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By Chen Lin
SINGAPORE, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday he would hand over the leadership of the ruling People’s Action Party to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as soon as the party turns 70 in November 2024, a year before the election. . Payable.
The party is widely expected to increase its dominance over a country it has ruled since independence in 1965, meaning Wong is likely to be Singapore’s next (and fourth) prime minister.
Lee is the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, who is widely credited with founding elegant Singapore. He has been the party’s general secretary and minister since 2004 and last year chose Wong, who is also finance minister, as his successor.
“I have complete confidence in Lawrence and his team and there is no explanation as to why they should delay their political transition. Therefore, I intend to pass the baton to DPM Lawrence before the next general election,” Lee said at an annual party conference.
Lee, 71, had planned to move control before his 70th birthday, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m fit to take on my next mission,” Wong, 50, said in a speech at the conference.
Wong was catapulted to prominence as co-chair of the government’s COVID-19 task force, tasked with enforcing restrictions, border restrictions and contact tracing, earning him praise for helping control infection and keeping death numbers low.
He served as Lee’s chief personal secretary from 2005 to 2008 and led the ministries of Education and National Progress before becoming finance minister in 2021 and deputy prime minister last year.
Wong is vice chairman of sovereign wealth fund GIC and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Southeast Asian country’s central bank.
‘BOLD MOVE’
Transferring leadership before the next general election is a “bold move,” some analysts say, though most believe it won’t affect political stability.
“The safest thing for the party would be for Lee to give up steam after the general election and give Wong time to build with the electorate,” said political scientist Walid Jumblatt Abdullah of Nanyang Technological University.
However, a prior force move is unlikely to affect stability, as Lee would likely still be involved in the closet in some way, he said.
The ruling won 83 of the 93 parliamentary seats in the 2020 election. But, as the election unfolded against a backdrop of pandemic turmoil, its share of the popular vote fell to a near-record low and all 10 seats won through the unprecedented opposition.
“What happens is that Wong will have to win his own mandate (in the next election),” said Chong Ja Ian of the National University of Singapore. (Reporting by Chen Lin in Singapore; editing by Michael Perry and Christopher Cushing)