Veteran technocrat Lawrence Wong will become Singapore’s fourth prime minister on May 15 when Lee Hsien Loong steps down after two decades at the helm of Southeast Asia’s most advanced economy. Wong, currently deputy prime minister and finance minister, inherited the premiership after a series of political and corruption scandals rocked the city-state’s sterling image.
Lee previously said Wong, 51, would take over on the symbolically rich date of November 21, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).
As leader of the PAP, which had one of the lowest vote shares in Singapore’s history in the 2020 election, Wong will face a daunting set of challenges.
He must quickly restore public confidence in the party ahead of the general election, scheduled for November 2025 but which could take place much sooner. And it will have to contend with a growing rift between its two main trading partners, the United States and China.
This conflict is also reflected in internal political differences. Rahman Yaakob, a fellow in the Southeast Asia program at Sydney’s Lowy Institute, said in a recent analysis: “There are different perceptions of China and the US between Singapore’s elite and the general population.”
The island city-state maintains a policy of neutrality but faces pressure from other ASEAN countries unhappy with Beijing’s increasingly assertive claims in the South China Sea. As the outgoing chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Wong will also be mindful that inflation limits consumers’ purchasing power and may raise public concerns about the PAP policy.
Preliminary first-quarter GDP estimates show growth fell sharply from 1.2% to just 0.1% in the fourth quarter last year, according to London-based Capital Economics. However, finding a way through these thickets will not be the task of Wong alone. Lee will remain in the cabinet as a senior minister, Wong said last month.