A PILLAR of stability, Lee Hsien Loong, son of Singapore’s independence leader, Lee Kuan Yew, has run the country since 2004. Despite a decline in his party’s popularity, the manicured electoral system has returned him to office time and again, most recently in 2015. The country is now more than halfway to the next election, which must be held in 2021 at the latest. As it nears, a tricky subject looms: who will replace Mr Lee? He plans to stand once more before stepping down as prime minister ahead of his 70th birthday in 2022. The question has the government on edge.
Mr Lee will almost certainly win the next election. The ruling People’s Action Party has held power since before independence more than half a century ago. It holds 83 of the 89 elected seats in Singapore’s parliament. Predicting the identity of the next prime minister is trickier. But a cabinet reshuffle this week provided clues. Three older ministers, all in their sixties, stepped down. Younger colleagues were...Continue reading
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