In good hands: Lee (right) shaking hands with Wong after delivering his speech at the PAP conference at the Singapore Expo. — The Straits Times/ANN
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is set to take charge of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), consolidating his leadership ahead of a general election due next year.
Outgoing party secretary-general and former premier Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday he would recommend Wong take the reins once the next central executive committee (CEC) convenes. Party cadres have already voted for a new CEC, which will later pick a new secretary-general.
“I will lead the PAP into the next general election,” Wong said during the convention. “As your secretary-general, I will renew and strengthen our party.”
The 51-year-old Harvard graduate is seeking a fresh mandate in elections that must be held by November 2025. While the party is certain to extend its grip on power over the financial hub, it has faced some setbacks including a former minister sentenced to jail and rising living costs that the resurgent opposition has described as a crisis.
The PAP has run the city-state uninterrupted since its independence in 1965.
“This will complete the leadership transition from me to my successor,” said Lee, who will remain on the central executive committee in an advisory role.
“In May, he took over from me as prime minister, and that transition, I am happy to say, has gone very smoothly.”
Wong, who is also finance minister, has pledged to boost safety nets and re-skilling programmes as part of a national strategy to fight income inequality.
In his first major policy speech in August, Wong introduced temporary unemployment benefits, a notable departure for a government that has long resisted such programmes.
He has pitched budgets over the past three years that are becoming more worker-friendly. This year, the budget included S$5bil (RM16.6bil) for measures including cash payouts and tax breaks, a figure that will reach nearly S$40bil (RM132.7bil) by the end of the decade.
Singapore raised its growth forecast for this year to around 3.5% as the trade-reliant economy recovers faster than anticipated, but the government cautioned on risks for 2025 given an expected barrage of tariffs from a new Trump administration.
Wong has expressed concerns about the tariffs, saying Singapore needs to reinforce trade links with multiple partners. — Bloomberg
