Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

PM Lee working to build successor team

SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong intends to put in place a leadership team, as well as a successor, before he turns 70. He said this, in response to a question on Ask the Prime Minister programme on Channel NewsAsia last night, during which he was asked if he intends to stay on as Prime Minister beyond the age of 67 — the age at which Mr Lee Kuan Yew stepped down and handed over the reins to Mr Goh Chok Tong.

PM Lee Hsien Loong during a LIVE recording of Ask The Prime Minister with hosts CNA Presenter Sharon Tong (left) and Editor-in-Chief Walter Fernandez (right) at the MediaCorp TV theatre. Photo: Don Wong

PM Lee Hsien Loong during a LIVE recording of Ask The Prime Minister with hosts CNA Presenter Sharon Tong (left) and Editor-in-Chief Walter Fernandez (right) at the MediaCorp TV theatre. Photo: Don Wong

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong intends to put in place a leadership team, as well as a successor, before he turns 70. He said this, in response to a question on Ask the Prime Minister programme on Channel NewsAsia last night, during which he was asked if he intends to stay on as Prime Minister beyond the age of 67 — the age at which Mr Lee Kuan Yew stepped down and handed over the reins to Mr Goh Chok Tong.

Mr Lee, who is 61, said: “I do not have a specific date, but I have said that I shouldn’t really be Prime Minister until the age of 70.” He added: “I think we must have a successor, a successor team in place and ideally a successor in place well before that.”

Mr Lee noted that the Prime Minister position is both a physically and mentally challenging role, which an older person might not be suited for.

Noting that he was “very, very lucky” to have 20 years of apprenticeship, Mr Lee pointed out that the future prime ministers of Singapore might not have a similar privilege.

“I think Singapore will have to get used to the idea that you have people come in, you have a leader who has not been there quite such a long time, you have to operate in a different sort of way but he can make it work,” he said.

When asked about the qualities in the next Prime Minister, Mr Lee said: “Ideally we have another (Mr) Lee Kuan Yew, (but) that’s not going to happen.”

He added: “There’s only one (Mr) Lee Kuan Yew in many, many, many, generations, in many, many countries. We’ve been blessed. We have to work with the talent which we have.”

The Prime Minister acknowledged that social media and negative online comments have made it more challenging to recruit new political talent. The last two General Elections, however, have enabled him to bring in “significant number of good people”, and the current pool of political holders form a “good team”.

And while it will take time for Singaporeans to gain familiarity with the new team, the Prime Minister said that “their heart is in the right place”.

“I think they are shaping up, and around the team we will have to build, and we will build successors,” Mr Lee added. “I hope in the next election, I will be able to reinforce the team further. We are working at that.”

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.