Netizen tells Lawrence Wong his priority should be “jobs, inflation and unemployed Locals” instead of organising team of leaders

The news that there was no timeline yet for taking over as Prime Minister came as a bit of a surprise to netizens, especially when Lawrence Wong said his focus for now “is thinking about organising the team of Singapore’s leaders and to become familiar with his own expanded role”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said on Monday (Aug 15) that there were two possible scenarios for when the leadership transition could take place.

The first: Mr Wong could take over as prime minister before the next general election, which must be held by November 2025. In such a case, Mr Wong said he would “clearly lead” the People’s Action Party (PAP) and its fourth generation of political leaders, or the 4G team, in the election.

The second: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong could continue to lead the party in the upcoming election, and then relinquish the position to him if the PAP wins.

Mr Wong added that a decision had yet to be made on the timing. He added that for now, what is most important for him is thinking about organising the team of Singapore’s leaders and becoming familiar with his own expanded role.

“My priority for now is really to start thinking about organising the team, how we might want to go about dealing with our immediate priorities and really take this time to settle in to my new expanded responsibilities and portfolios,” he said, according to a Straits Times article.

“In due course, we will make a decision on this important matter (of succession).”

Mr Wong’s comments were made during an interview with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait.

Netizens who commented on the interview felt that the timeline was not at all an indication and seemed to be rather vague.