PAP still needs ‘a few more’ candidates before next GE: PM Lee
PAP candidates having a group picture taken during the campaigning for the 2015 General Election. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong disclosed on June 7, 2019, that he had already interviewed several possible candidates from a wide range of backgrounds since last year for the next election.
SINGAPORE — The ruling People’s Action Party is still looking for more people to field in the next general election, including those with ministerial potential, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.
“We are still always looking for people who have potential to be ministers, and even the potential to be more than ministers. We are working very hard but we still have to get a few more,” he said on Friday (June 7) at a fireside chat during the annual Business China awards ceremony held at the Marina Bay Sands.
He was speaking to Mr Robin Hu, head of sustainability and stewardship at Temasek International, the management arm of state investment firm Temasek Holdings. Mr Hu had asked about PAP’s interviews with possible electoral candidates.
The interview process had started from last year, Mr Lee said. He revealed that he had already interviewed several possible candidates from a wide range of backgrounds.
They include people with unconventional educational tracks and careers, as well as “a good number” of women and young people.
But Mr Lee was less forthcoming about the timing of the next general election, which must be held by April 2021 — less than two years away.
“Well, there have been general elections called less than four years into the term,” he said, referring to the 1991 general election called by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s three-year-old government.
“There have been occasions when we have stretched it to the utmost limit, and we went to five years and a little bit beyond, because you start counting from the time when Parliament sits and not when the general election was held,” he added.
“It could be anything in between. But if we haven’t started getting excited, then either it is not about to come, or we haven’t heard the news yet.”
The 45-minute-long chat between Mr Lee and Mr Hu mostly centred around the increasingly fraught relationship between the United States and China, though towards the end, Mr Hu said he wanted to ask about Singapore’s next general election since there is not much time left.
“What should we take the upcoming election to mean,” he asked. “Is it about seeking the endorsement of the next prime minister? To prepare Singapore for the turbulent times to come? To prevent the economy from slipping into negative growth? Or to avoid taking sides in the rivalry between superpowers?”
In response, Mr Lee said that the upcoming polls are crucial due to the leadership transition within the PAP.
“It is to show ourselves and to show the world that Singapore is united, that we understand what our safety and security and our prosperity depends on, and that we are able to identify and support a team that will get us to where we want to be,” he said.
Referring to the fourth-generation (4G) leadership team led by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and supported by Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, Mr Lee said that it would be asking a lot that this team works smoothly without glitches.
“But it must work well and I must be able to hand over and the next team will be able to take charge and make Singapore work in their own way, (just) as I and my team were able to take over and make Singapore work in our way.”
Asked if he was happy with the 4G team, Mr Lee said it is still a “work-in-progress”.
“I am very happy that we have got here, but we will have some journey to go yet. And we will need to continually reinforce the team. They are the 4G team, but you must look for the people beyond them — now.”
Mr Lee said the younger ministers of the Cabinet had supported the choice of the 4G leaders, lauding them as “a good and stable core around which the younger ministers can form a team”.
“More and more, I am leaving things for them to do, not just speeches but also delicate issues to handle. And I think they will gain the experience and the touch and the confidence of the people as they go along.”
