Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) yesterday said he would reshuffle his Cabinet after parliament breaks in coming months to give more responsibility to the next generation of leaders who will support his eventual successor.
Lee, the city-state’s third prime minister since independence in 1965, said in October last year that he would be ready to step down in a couple of years.
He said a new election could be called any time before early 2021, when parliament’s current term ends, and that his successor was likely to emerge from the current Cabinet.
“I will reshuffle the Cabinet after parliament prorogues, to give the younger members more exposure and responsibility. This way, my successor will be supported by a stronger and more experienced team, committed to leading Singapore to a better and brighter future,” he said in a Facebook post.
Lee said parliament would reopen in May after a recess.
Questions about succession in the wealthy city state — which has been governed by the People’s Action Party P) since independence — came into focus when Lee, who has twice survived cancer, fell ill during a televised speech in 2016 and stumbled at a podium.
The media in Singapore and political analysts say Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat (王瑞傑), Minister for Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung (王乙康) and Cabinet member Chan Chun Sing (陳振聲) are contenders to be the next leader.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, also mentioned as a potential successor, has repeatedly said he does not want the job.
Former prime minister Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟) said in a Facebook post in December last year that he hoped Singapore’s current crop of leaders could choose a potential successor in six to nine months’ time.
Lee responded by saying the process would probably take a little longer, local media reported.
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