Victorious Goh vows to step down after 2007

Victorious Goh vows to step down after 2007

Agencies, Singapore

Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong vowed Thursday to step down in favor of a new generation of leaders by 2007, after he won a fresh mandate to lead Singapore without a vote being cast.

"This will be the last election I will be leading the party as prime minister," the 60-year-old Goh told a news conference, adding that by the next elections due in 2007, there would be a new team in charge.

His People's Action Party (PAP) won a fresh five-year mandate after it stood unopposed in 55 of the 84 seats up for grabs in the Nov. 3 snap elections by the time the deadline for candidacies lapsed on Thursday.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 49, is the front runner to succeed Goh, who took over in 1990 from Lee's father, Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who was also returned unopposed to parliament and is now a senior minister.

"The PAP has been returned to form the government this morning. Many seats were uncontested so we are now back in government," Goh said.

"But this also places upon us a very heavy responsibility. The election is held in very unusual times. The biggest worry that we have is the economic recession. I'm very concerned about jobs today, jobs tomorrow."

Goh said the election will represent "a changing of the guard" but added that "it is not going to be sudden, it will take some time."

"We have already started the process by recruiting a few (potential) ministers ... and we are going to bring in more people, and some will be contesting in this election," he said, referring to young professionals and civil servants standing for office for the first time under the PAP banner.

"When they are elected, some will be channeled as ministers and at the right time, you can see the shift of a new team. And hopefully by 2007, the changing of the guard will be completed," he said.

Goh said that when Lee Kuan Yew stepped down in 1990, Lee again stood for elections without leading the PAP.

"So when I step down I should not lead it. A new leader must lead it. But of course I must still play a very important part," Goh said.

The PAP nominated candidates to fight for all seats in Parliament, while opposition candidates are only seeking 29. Some had expected the opposition to contest up to 51 seats.

"It's a disappointment," Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew said of the low opposition turnout.

"For many of the new MPs who have never fought an election before it would have been a good experience. But obviously they (the opposition) couldn't mount the challenge," he said.

Opposition politician Chee Soon Juan, secretary general of the Singapore Democratic Party, said on Thursday that the opposition would fight hard in the election despite having no chance to win a majority.

"The most important thing is really the ability of the people to have their voice in Parliament," Chee said at a news conference.

Chee vowed to "keep up this fight for the people" against an "authoritarian, autocratic state."