Singapore Taps Finance Chief Wong as Heir Apparent to PM Lee

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore Finance Minister Lawrence Wong has been chosen as the new leader of the so-called fourth generation team, paving the way for him to become the country’s next prime minister.

In an unusual step, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 70, conveyed the decision in a Facebook post Thursday night and detailed the consultation process that found “overwhelming support” for Wong among the younger cabinet ministers. Wong would be Singapore’s fourth prime minister since independence in 1965.

There will be adjustments to cabinet appointments, Lee said. It will be the third cabinet change after the 2020 polls when the ruling People’s Action Party retained power but suffered the weakest performance in nearly six decades.

“This decision on succession is a crucial one for Singapore,” said Lee, who has been in office since 2004. “It will ensure the continuity and stability of leadership that are the hallmarks of our system.”

The appointment follows a year of uncertainty over who would lead Singapore after Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat stepped aside as heir apparent, saying he would be too old to take over once the pandemic was over. Lee had postponed a decision to step aside before he turned 70 in 2022, citing a desire to hand over Singapore “intact” and in “good working order” to the next team.

Questions about Heng emerged after the party saw its worst parliamentary performance in the 2020 election despite winning 89% of seats, as the opposition pushed for measures to help low-income Singaporeans and hire locals over foreigners. When Lee announced the leadership shakeup last year, he said his goal was to identify a successor before the next election due in 2025.

Three contenders emerged, including Wong, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Education Minister Chan Chun Sing. However, Wong stood out for his leadership in explaining the initial Covid-Zero approach and then shifting to living with the virus. 

In a show of unity played out on social media, the two other frontrunners congratulated Wong and pledged to work together as a team. It is likely that they will become Wong’s right-hand men in governing Singapore. 

Wong, 49, said he was “humbled and grateful” to lead.  “I will do my utmost to uphold this responsibility. But as we have been reminded many times, the right to lead cannot be inherited,” he said in a Facebook post.

Unusual Steps

Unusually, Lee used Facebook to describe in detail the selection process that started with him asking the PAP’s chairman Khaw Boon Wan to individually speak to the fourth-generation ministers for their “personal views in confidence.” Lee and two other senior ministers did not take part in the process. 

Khaw presented their collective views to rest of the cabinet and Lee who endorsed the younger ministers’ choice of Wong as the successor on Thursday. It was later presented in the evening to PAP lawmakers, who also accepted the decision. 

The confirmation of Wong as the heir apparent is just the first of many steps toward the top job. In November, the ruling party will normally hold its biennial central executive committee elections that should see Wong elected as the first assistant-secretary general, a precursor to taking the prime minister job. 

Based on past practices, Singapore’s premier would usually lead the PAP to the elections one more time and then hand over power to his successor about 12 to 18 months into the term. Singapore’s next polls must be held by November 2025 and by then, Lee would be 73.

The PAP usually holds elections well before the term expires. It is possible that Lee will call for elections a year earlier, in the last quarter of 2024, and go down to the voters to tell them that he puts his trust on Wong and the fourth generation team, said Eugene Tan, a political analyst and law professor at Singapore Management University.

“The government needs to time rebuild the ravaged economy. Nothing beats going to the voters with a strong report card for the subject known as the economy,” he said. 

Post-Covid Response

On the same day Wong was made the successor, Singapore’s central bank further tightened monetary settings and raised its inflation forecast to fight cost pressures that threaten the recovery from the pandemic. While Singapore has seen relatively brighter growth prospects than neighboring countries, the challenge is to reduce social inequalities. 

Wong entered the political fray in 2011 holding various positions in the defense, communications and information ministries. Since then, he’s been instrumental in Singapore’s pandemic response, co-chairing a government taskforce and serving as deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

In February, he used his maiden budget speech as finance minister to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and announce an increase in consumption levies to rebuild finances after the pandemic.

“With the ruling party’s lackluster performance in the 2020 general election, Wong and Lee will likely focus on hastening initiatives and policies to secure better social outcomes for Singaporeans and help the PAP gain more public support,” said Nydia Ngiow, Singapore-based managing director at BowerGroupAsia, a strategic policy advisory firm.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.