Singapore succession in place as PM Goh prepares for exit<\/p>\n
Roberto Coloma, Agence France-Presse, Singapore<\/p>\n
Singapore's political succession is now in place as Prime
\nMinister Goh Chok Tong begins his last big mission: restore
\neconomic growth before stepping down as chief executive of
\nSingapore Inc.<\/p>\n
Goh, 60, plans to hand over power halfway through his new
\nfive-year term if Singapore pulls out of its current recession by
\nthen, setting the stage for his designated heir Deputy Prime
\nMinister Lee Hsien Loong to take over.<\/p>\n
The new cabinet was sworn in Friday with the spotlight on Lee,
\n49, son of the first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, 78, who in 1990
\nstepped aside in favor of Goh but is still in the cabinet with
\nthe special title of Senior Minister.<\/p>\n
"In two to three years' time, our economic growth should have
\nresumed. By then, the new crew should be ready to take over the
\nleadership baton," Goh said in a speech after the oath-taking.<\/p>\n
Like a company chief executive preparing to move upstairs, Goh
\nis scouting around for future leaders of Singapore Inc., as the
\nrepublic is known because of the major role played by the state
\nin the economy and the corporate methods used in running the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
Goh told AFP in an interview that he would not negotiate his
\nfuture role with his successor, but will remain an MP. He said
\nthat if asked, he could play an "advisory role" similar to that
\nof the elder Lee.<\/p>\n
The junior Lee has meanwhile assumed more powers, taking over
\nthe finance ministry in addition to being chairman of the
\nMonetary Authority of Singapore and head of a committee studying
\nthe long-term restructuring of the economy.<\/p>\n
Goh's People's Action Party (PAP) has ruled Singapore since
\n1959. It walked off with 82 of the 84 seats and 75 percent of the
\nvotes cast in the Nov. 3 elections, including 55 that were not
\neven contested by the feeble opposition.<\/p>\n
Emil Bolongaita, an assistant professor of public policy at
\nthe National University of Singapore, said the succession process
\nwas not exceptional or unusual.<\/p>\n
He said Singapore has a "dominant party system" under which
\nthe PAP has its own internal rules and dynamics in deciding the
\nsuccession issue.<\/p>\n
"Because the PAP remains the dominant party, the real politics
\nand the real election is within the party," he said. "As with
\nsimilar parliamentary regimes, who heads the party heads the
\ngovernment."<\/p>\n
"Because of the PAP's party dominance the succession process
\nis very much an organizational process. That's not to say they
\ndon't take external factors and domestic factors into
\nconsideration. The last elections certainly demonstrated this."<\/p>\n
Professor P. Ramasamy, a political scientist at the National
\nUniversity of Malaysia, said Lee's imminent rise to the top was
\nno surprise but he was "slightly puzzled" that Goh gave a
\ntimetable for stepping down.<\/p>\n
"In the Southeast Asian context prime ministers stay for a
\nvery long time," he said, citing Lee Kuan Yew, who was prime
\nminister for 31 years, Malaysia's prime minister for the past 20
\nyears Mahathir Mohamad, and former Indonesian President Soeharto,
\nwho ruled for 32 years.<\/p>\n
"Maybe times are changing, maybe there is some subtle pressure
\non Goh Chok Tong," Ramasamy said. "Why does he want to quit so
\nearly? He has not been in power for so long. He's not that old.
\nHe's not been performing miserably."<\/p>\n
But Goh told AFP that Singapore had a "unique system" and
\nstressed the need to keep bringing in new faces as part of a
\n"conveyor belt" process of leadership renewal.<\/p>\n
He said he was himself recruited by the elder Lee in 1972 when
\nhe was a shipping executive running the Neptune Orient Lines, and
\nit was now his turn to convince "bright young people" to join the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
With a handpicked core group of key ministers in their forties
\nand fifties now in position, Goh said he would now look for
\npromising Singaporeans under 35 from whose ranks another future
\npremier could emerge.<\/p>",
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