(Bloomberg) — For most of Singapore’s history as an independent nation, a Lee has been at the helm. That now comes to an end.
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Lee Hsien Loong announced on Monday that he will step aside next month after two decades as premier, completing a telegraphed political succession that has been in the works in one form or another since before the Covid-19 outbreak.
Taking his place will be Laurens Wonga 51-year-old fellow Harvard University graduate who rose to prominence in part due to his leadership during the pandemic.
When Wong takes on his new role, it will turn the page on a combined half-century of Lee family rule. Lee Kuan Yew became the Southeast Asian country’s first prime minister in 1959, heralding Singapore’s rapid transformation from a colonial trading center at the tip of the Malay Peninsula to a global financial center.
The Lees are credited with helping turn Singapore into Asia’s richest country, but the question now looming is how long the ruling People’s Action Party can carry the torch amid ongoing concerns over the city-state’s high cost of living and growing geopolitical tensions.
Analysts say Wong, who is also finance minister, will provide continuity in a country with a reputation for political stability. And a key test for his new government could be around the corner as Wong considers whether to call early elections due late next year.
‘First moves’
“All eyes will be on his first steps in assuming the premiership,” said Nydia Ngiow, managing director at strategic business consultancy BowerGroupAsia in Singapore. “It will be crucial that his answers clearly reflect and address sentiments on the ground, otherwise the ruling party risks losing even more ground to the opposition when the polls open.”
Since becoming prime minister in 2004, Lee has steered Singapore through the global financial crisis and pandemic, which saw the city-state’s economy suffer its biggest collapse since independence. In response, the government unleashed unprecedented budget support.
But Lee also used his party’s grip on power to protect Singapore from polarizing social issues and the disinformation that divided Western countries. At a time when much of the region is struggling to cope with tensions between the US and China, he maintains friendly ties with both while continuing his father’s reputation as an independent observer of complex geopolitical trends.
“You are rightly regarded as a leader of the highest order in the world,” New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said at a joint news conference ahead of Lee’s resignation announcement on Monday.
Then there is the economy. Total asset management in Singapore increased more than eightfold to S$4.9 trillion ($3.6 trillion) during Lee’s tenure. While the total population grew by 42% to 5.92 million, the non-resident population increased by 135%, playing a key role in industries that contributed to the growth.
According to a poll earlier this year by Blackbox Research, 77% of Singaporeans and residents said the city-state is moving in the right direction. But while the government received top marks on defence, education, crime and race relations, its tackling of the cost of living, taxes and the income gap ranked at the bottom.
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“You could also say that the dissatisfaction over such issues was the result of Lee’s pro-investment policies, which favored multinational corporations, sometimes at the expense of locals, leading to a widening wealth gap and thus income inequality,” Ngiow said .
The transfer also comes after a series of scandals that have marred the ruling party’s reputation for clean governance, including the recent resignation of a minister accused of corruption.
Next in line
Since being announced as heir apparent about two years ago, Wong has adopted a more consultative approach to governing as he tries to gain support in Singapore’s multiracial society. By handing over the reins to Wong before the elections, the ruling party hopes to secure an unassailable mandate behind its new leader. The 2020 elections were the worst for the People’s Action Party, despite winning 89% of parliamentary seats.
“There is no doubt that leadership today must be consultative, but the real question is whether the consultations will be qualitatively different from their predecessors,” said Eugene Tan, a law professor at Singapore Management University.
Nevertheless, “If you can get out of the shadow of the Lee family, most people will see it as beneficial for Singapore,” he said.
Lee’s next steps
The 72-year-old Lee is unlikely to stray far from politics, having previously said he will remain at the disposal of the “new prime minister” after the handover. He will continue as senior minister after the handover, the Straits Times reported on Tuesday, citing Wong.
Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong served for 14 years after Lee Kuan Yew resigned in 1990, but many analysts have long predicted that Lee Hsien Loong – who served as one of Goh’s deputy prime ministers – would eventually come to power.
This time around, there’s little indication as to whether any of Lee’s four children are interested in running for office, with Lee saying during a 2018 interview with Bloomberg that “none of them have shown any interest in getting into politics .”
“They have a right to it, but I don’t think it’s likely that they would feel the same compulsion that I did, that it was something that you were obliged to do,” he said at the time. “It would be unkind of me to impose any more burdens on them. It’s hard enough for them to carry my name.”
–With help from Ishika Mookerjee and Kevin Varley.
(Updates with report Lee will serve as senior minister in paragraph 18.)
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