The People’s Action Party’s (PAP) fourth generation leaders will “very much be in the thick of things” come the next General Election (GE), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the Singapore media on Saturday (Dec 1) at the end of his five-day visit to Argentina where he attended the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
While Mr Lee will lead the PAP as its secretary-general into the election — which must be held by early 2021 — the 4G leaders will be “taking the lead in the sense of setting the agenda, working out the policies, preparing the manifesto, making the pitch to the public, and actively campaigning during the election and organising the election”.
He added that the ruling party will be going into the GE “with a team which has depth”. “It’s not just the present leaders, who are in their late 50s, early 60s – but also the next generation of leaders, 40s, 50s, ready to take over,” he said. “I think that’s a very strong message, which goes beyond any specific policies and manifesto items or promises, but the commitment is we are here to serve and not just for now, but to serve into the future and you can rely on us.”Mr Lee also gave an indication of the timing of the impending Cabinet reshuffle.
The last round of Cabinet changes was announced in April this year, and Mr Lee suggested that the next reshuffle could be around the same timeframe.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Last month, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat was announced as the PAP’s first assistant secretary-general.
- Mr Heng’s appointment sets the stage for him to take over Mr Lee, 66, as the PAP’s secretary-general, as well as the prime minister after the next GE.
- Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing was appointed as the PAP’s second assistant secretary-general.
- Political analysts previously told TODAY that they expect Mr Heng and Mr Chan to be appointed as Deputy Prime Ministers in the next Cabinet reshuffle, taking over from Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Mr Teo Chee Hean. They also predicted changes to three key portfolios — education, defence and foreign affairs — which were among those that did not change hands in the last Cabinet reshuffle.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong: "The 4G ministers have decided that Swee Keat will be their leader... and the MPs have endorsed this conclusion. So the party's position is clear… (As for the next PM), first we have to fight an election, we have to win the election and after that if all goes according to plan, well the succession happens within the PAP, there are no surprises."
WHY DOES IT MATTER
- PM Lee has indicated that he will hand over the reins after the next GE. This will be the first time in at least three decades that the PAP is going into a GE in the middle of a top leadership transition.
- In the last succession, then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made known his intention to step down after leading the PAP to a landslide victory in the 2001 GE (winning 75.3 per cent of the vote share and achieving its best showing since 1980). Mr Goh handed over the premiership to Mr Lee Hsien Loong in August 2004 — nine months before the GE was held in 2005.
- The previous time that the PAP went into a GE in the midst of a handover was in the 1988 GE.
- Mr Goh’s peers had decided on him as their leader in 1984, and reaffirmed their choice in 1988. The PAP won the 1988 GE with 63.2 per cent of the vote share.
- Mr Goh’s predecessor, founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, stepped down in November 1990. Mr Lee Kuan Yew had set 1988 as the year he planned to resign as Prime Minister in interviews with foreign media in early 1987.
- For the coming GE, analysts had said the PAP could test the level of support for the future Prime Minister by making it a key issue in its campaigns. They added that a delicate balance will have to be struck — for PM Lee to play a leading role while giving room for his successor to shine as the PAP gears up for the electoral battle.
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