Lee Hsien Loong's handover to Lawrence Wong, although it is the biggest change in Singapore's politics in 20 years, is actually confirmed in 2022, so it is not surprising.
▲Singapore's current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Text | Xu Lifan
According to Xinhua News Agency, Singapore's Prime Minister's Office announced on the 15th that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will resign on May 15. He will formally propose to the President that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong be the new Prime Minister.
According to reports, 51-year-old Lawrence Wong, who is currently Singapore's deputy prime minister and finance minister, will be sworn in at the presidential palace at 8 p.m. local time on May 15, becoming Singapore's fourth prime minister and the first prime minister born after the founding of Singapore.
Lee Hsien Loong has been in charge of Singapore for 20 years, serving as Singapore's third prime minister and third secretary-general of the ruling People's Action Party since 2004.
This handover means that the fourth generation of the leadership team is officially in charge of Singapore's political scene, and it also puts people's eyes on the general election to be held in Singapore next year. This general election will have a decisive impact on Lawrence Wong's tenure as prime minister.
The prime minister is elected by the meritocracy
Lee Hsien Loong's handover to Lawrence Wong, although it is the biggest change in Singapore's politics in 20 years, is actually confirmed in 2022, so it is not surprising.
The PAP has won all general elections since 1959, when Singapore held its first historic election, changing from a British colony to a Dominion (a special state system under the British colonial system and the last step towards independence for the colony). The PAP has also established an "elite selection system" to ensure the functioning and handover of the meritocracy political system.
Specifically, a group of candidates made up of the ruling PAP elite elects the PAP secretary-general, who is the prime minister, and the first assistant secretary-general who becomes the prime minister's future successor.
In November 2018, the People's Action Party (PAP) announced that Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policy, Heng Swee Keat was appointed First Assistant Secretary-General. Heng Swee Keat is therefore seen as Lee Hsien Loong's successor.
But in April 2021, Heng Swee Keat wrote to Lee Hsien Loong, saying that he would no longer lead the fourth-generation leadership team due to age and health concerns. Heng Swee Keat is 63 years old, only nine years younger than Lee Hsien Loong.
In 2022, the Singapore People's Action Party (PAP) once again nominated a fourth-generation leadership team. The nominee team consisted of 19 members, 17 of whom were cabinet ministers, plus the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Secretary General of the National Federation of Trade Unions. The nomination process was chaired by former PAP chairman Koh Boon Yuen, who listened to the views of 19 nominees one by one, and 15 of them nominated Lawrence Wong to succeed him.
It is worth noting that Lee Hsien Loong and the two State Counsellors at the time, Teo Chee Hian and Tharman Shandaman (now the President of Singapore), were also eligible to be proposed, but both gave up the right to do so. This is different from the previous selection process, and it also shows that Wong has enough cohesion and support.
After Lawrence Wong was elected as the leader of the fourth-generation leadership team, Lee Hsien Loong said he could hand over the reins before the 2025 general election, or by himself and after he was elected. Now that Lee Hsien Loong has chosen the first option, it also shows that he has enough confidence in Lawrence Wong's leadership of the People's Action Party to win the 2025 general election.
▲ Lawrence Wong, the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Singapore. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Lawrence Wong has his own unique style
Singapore's three previous prime ministers were all from China. The first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and the third Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were originally from Dapu County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, and the second Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong was from Yongchun County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province. Lawrence Wong, who is about to become Singapore's fourth prime minister, is no exception, and his ancestral home is Hainan.
Another point that shares the same as Singapore's previous three prime ministers is that Lawrence Wong is also an elite of Singapore's elite, a scholar-type politician. His political career is not much different from that of Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Loong, having participated in parliamentary elections, government departments, and the Central Executive Committee of the People's Action Party, the core power body.
Wong also served as Lee Hsien Loong's principal private secretary from 2005 to 2008 and thus developed a close relationship with him. This is where Lawrence Wong is luckier than Goh Chok Tong, another prime minister who is not part of the Lee Kuan Yew family.
Before Goh Chok Tong took over in 1990, he was not regarded as the first choice by Lee Kuan Yew, who valued Chen Qingyan more at that time. In his biography "Difficult Mission", Goh Chok Tong repeatedly mentioned the pressure caused by Lee Kuan Yew.
In addition, Lawrence Wong also has his own unique style. Since his school days, Huang Xuncai has liked reading and music, and has also participated in a musical adapted from Jin Yong's "Heaven and Dragon Slayer". He is also in the habit of sharing information about his life online.
Perhaps because he grew up in HDB flats and his family was not wealthy, Lawrence Wong is also more down-to-earth. In the wake of the pandemic, Lawrence Wong responded to the public's dissatisfaction with the anti-epidemic measures and the GST hike in an effective way of communicating and responding, which won widespread praise from the top brass of the People's Action Party and laid the foundation for his victory in the 2022 election.
What will happen to China-New Zealand relations in the era of Lawrence Wong?
The biggest challenge for Lawrence Wong to take over is Singapore's general election, which will be held in November at the latest.
In the 2020 general election, the PAP received 61.2% of the vote, although it still had a dominant advantage, but its share of the vote declined. So far, however, the PAP has not faced a strong challenge. Coupled with Huang Xun's pragmatic and peaceful style, there is no suspense in next year's general election.
Many are also concerned about whether Singapore's relationship with China will change. In December last year, Lawrence Wong, in his capacity as Singapore's deputy prime minister and finance minister, led some senior officials from Singapore to visit China.
During his visit to China, Lawrence Wong reached a number of cooperation agreements with the Chinese side, including the well-known agreement between China and New Zealand to exempt ordinary passport holders from visas for 30 days.
In addition, Lawrence Wong's visit to China can also be regarded as a docking between Singapore's fourth-generation leadership team and the Chinese side to a certain extent. This alone also shows the importance that Singapore's new leadership attaches to the management of Singapore's bilateral relations.
During his visit to Beijing, Mr. Wong also said: "Never bet on China's weakness." He pointed out that China will continue to be an economy that can provide great opportunities for bilateral cooperation. With such a strategic vision, we should be able to maintain a relatively optimistic attitude towards China-New Zealand relations in the post-Lee Hsien Loong era.
Written by Xu Lifan (Columnist)
Editor / Bruce Ma
Proofreading / Liu Jun
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