Is ‘Forward Singapore’ a soft launch of a manifesto by Lawrence Wong ahead of PAP leadership change?

‘Forward Singapore’, the product of a nationwide feedback exercise, offers a road map for an inclusive Singapore that analysts say will inform the ruling PAP’s election campaign

The initiative could also be a ‘primer’ for a leadership transition for Wong, observers say, as leaders spearheading previous iterations of the exercise had risen to the top ranks

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Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Photo: EPA-EFE/Handout from MCI

Published: 5:30pm, 3 Nov 2023Updated: 11:42pm, 3 Nov 2023

In Singapore, a tradition in which an emerging leader of the ruling party is assigned a mammoth task of rallying the country to focus on key challenges and forge a consensus is often seen as paving the way for leadership succession and an election.

This is why speculation has grown that the ruling People’s Action Party is likely to hold an election soon as it prepares for only the third change of premiership since independence in 1965.

Last week, the fourth-generation leaders, or the 4G as they are popularly called, led by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, unveiled a comprehensive plan for an economic and social transformation to create a more inclusive Singapore that will require both policy and mindset changes.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Photo: AFP

The product of a nationwide feedback exercise spanning 16 months and involving discussions with some 200,000 people, the Forward Singapore road map will inform the PAP’s election campaign, analysts say, as they predict polls will happen next year. The general election must be called at the latest by November 2025.

This Sunday, the PAP, which has governed the city state for an uninterrupted 64 years, will hold a convention for party cadres. Analysts expect Wong, who has been named as the successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, will delve further into the Forward Singapore report.

Officials have said the document, outlining the challenges and policy proposals on nearly every aspect of Singapore life – from education to housing to jobs – is to refresh the city state’s social compact.

“There are likely to be references to the report and the use of elements in the report to advance the PAP’s positions, priorities and agendas, and perhaps to highlight the role of Lawrence Wong given that he is the putative next leader of the PAP and next prime minister,” said Ian Chong, a political scientist from the National University of Singapore.