Reuters :
Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat will step aside as the designated successor to current premier Lee Hsien Loong, in an unexpected decision that disrupts the city-state’s succession plans. “We need a leader who will not only rebuild Singapore post-Covid-19, but also lead the next phase of our nation-building effort,” Heng said in a letter published on Thursday. Heng, who will turn 60 this year, is set to give up his portfolio as finance minister at the next cabinet reshuffle expected in about two weeks. Succession in the wealthy Southeast Asian city state – which has been governed by the People’s Action Party (PAP) since independence in 1965 – is normally a carefully planned affair. The pandemic, however, has set back a handover of power. Lee, 69, has flagged that he may delay his plan to pass the reins to a successor by the time he is 70 to see Singapore through the aftermath of the pandemic. “As the crisis will be prolonged, I would be close to the mid-60s when the crisis is over,” Heng said, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic.
