How “unanimous ” is the support from stakeholders for Lawrence Wong’s premiership?

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will hand over the premiership to his deputy, Lawrence Wong, on 15 May after twenty years in the role, as announced by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on 15 April.

The announcement came two years after Cabinet ministers selected Mr Wong to lead the fourth-generation (4G) team of political leaders from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), and seven months ahead of the party’s 70th anniversary in November.

“DPM Wong has the unanimous support of the PAP Members of Parliament,” the PMO stated.

It is interesting to note that the vote to select Finance Minister Lawrence Wong as the leader of the fourth-generation (4G) People’s Action Party (PAP) team was previously not unanimous.

A press conference held on 16 April 2022, revealed that Mr. Wong had received the nod from 15 out of 19 “stakeholders” consulted by retired Minister Khaw Boon Wan after being chosen as a successor to PM Lee, following Heng Swee Keat’s withdrawal as a successor.

Mr Khaw, who was tasked with facilitating the process of choosing the next 4G leader, had spoken to these individuals separately.

The stakeholders—comprising former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, Labour Chief Ng Chee Meng, and all Cabinet ministers except Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the two Senior Ministers—were asked about their preferred choice and told to rank potential candidates in order of their preference.

With candidates unable to vote for themselves, this means that three people did not cast their vote for Mr Wong.

So, does the appointment of Wong as PM on the upcoming 15 May mean that Wong won the hearts of the three stakeholders who did not approve of him, or did he just have one more to convince if Tan Chuan-Jin and former Transport Minister S Iswaran weren’t part of the three to achieve unanimous support for his premiership?

But is it the case that Wong has to take over the position regardless of circumstances, given that an election has to be held soon for the party and PM Lee has to step down?

Given the lacklustre response from the PAP ministers on their social media to congratulate him, one would have to question the level of support that Wong has from his cabinet.

In any case, he can probably count on Mr K Shanmugam for support, given how vigorously he defended Mr Wong as the incoming PM against a commentary from The Economist last week.