Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be passing the baton to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on May 15, 2024.

In a statement released on Apr. 15, the Prime Minister's Office announced that PM Lee will formally advise President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to appoint Wong as his successor.

Wong has the unanimous support of the People's Action Party (PAP) Members of Parliament (MP).

He will be sworn in at 8pm on May 15, 2024 at the Istana.

Handover plans

PM Lee's succession plans have been in the works for some time.

On Nov. 5, 2023, PM Lee announced at the People's Action Party (PAP) Awards and Convention 2023 that he would be handing over leadership to Wong.

He said the handover would take place no later than the upcoming General Elections (GE), which is due no later than Nov. 23, 2025.

"Lawrence has told me that he is ready," he said. "I have full confidence in Lawrence and his team and there is no reason to delay the political transition."

New leadership

Following PM Lee's speech, Wong declared: "I am ready for my next assignment."

He shared that his approach to leadership would be to find common ground among Singaporeans and forge consensus in a diverse society.

Acknowledging that he would have to make "tough but necessary decisions from time to time", Wong promised he would "do [his] best" to explain such decisions, while being "upfront about the problems and trade-offs".

He said he would try to win the support of the broad majority of Singaporeans.

While the PAP has gone through various trials and tribulations, PM Lee said, certain aspects have not changed under his leadership, nor will it change under Wong's.

He said:

"We still wear whites, and we still formally address each other as comrades. We remain dedicated to Singapore, we still feel the call to serve the people, we still have a duty to future generations to keep this island safe and secure."

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Top images via Lawrence Wong's Instagram