Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong will hand over power to deputy Lawrence Wong on May 15

Wong, 51, is the youngest among three front runners in the city state’s fourth-generation leaders initially tipped for the top post

A dark-horse candidate, the current finance minister made his mark as co-leader of the government’s Covid task force

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Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (left) and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong. Lee will step down next month and his deputy Wong will take over. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:11pm, 15 Apr 2024Updated: 7:42pm, 15 Apr 2024

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will hand over power on May 15 to his deputy Lawrence Wong in only the country’s third leadership transition since independence in 1965 after an unusually winding road to the succession.

Wong, 51, who became deputy prime minister in 2022 after he was chosen by his peers to lead them, has not had the same length of apprenticeship as Lee or the latter’s predecessor, Goh Chok Tong.

A dark-horse candidate who started his career as a civil servant, Wong was not the original choice to be Lee’s successor but came into his own when he made his mark as the co-leader of the government’s Covid-19 pandemic task force.

Wong will be sworn in at 8pm on May 15 at the Istana, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday. “DPM Wong has the unanimous support of the PAP MPs,” the office said.

In a statement on social media, Lee described the leadership transition as a “significant moment”, adding that Wong and his team had “worked hard to gain the people’s trust, notably during the pandemic”.

Through the Forward Singapore exercise, a nationwide feedback exercise, they had also worked with many Singaporeans to “refresh our social compact and develop the national agenda for a new generation”, Lee added.