Lose no time delivering on promises, PM tells MPs

SINGAPORE — Calling the General Election (GE) results “better than we had dared to hope”, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the strong result for the People’s Action Party (PAP) gives leadership renewal “the best chance to succeed”.

In an address at a party caucus, Mr Lee, who is secretary-general of the PAP, also urged Members of Parliament (MPs) to lose no time getting going on the ground to engage with residents and build support, and work with the Government to deliver on what they have promised to do.

In his address, which was posted on the PAP’s website and shared on Facebook, Mr Lee said his emphasis for the new Cabinet — to be announced and sworn in within two weeks — will be on leadership renewal and “putting younger ministers into positions of heavier responsibility as quickly as we can”. “We have more good people whom we can groom and expose early, to enable us to build the strongest team to serve Singapore,” he said.

Noting that Parliament will open in January, Mr Lee urged the PAP MPs to think about their maiden speeches. Stressing the need to stay humble, Mr Lee said the party must use wisely the “precious political capital” it has won. It must justify the inevitable hard decisions and win support and trust, and MPs must be prepared to fight for what they believe in and “take the fight to the Opposition when necessary”, he said.

“We must not assume that the next election will be easy ... We must keep on working to persuade new voters of our ideals and convictions, and keep on updating our party and programmes to stay in touch with voters,” he said, pointing out: “Winning GE2021 starts now.”