Wee Kek Koon

Reflections | Singapore gets a new prime minister and, unlike those in imperial China, he won’t vie for power with an absolute monarch

In Singapore the elected prime minister and government run the country, with the president’s role ceremonial. Lawrence Wong has it easier than Chinese forebears

In imperial China, emperors needed prime ministers to help run the country, and sometimes their families, but power struggles between the two men were common

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Incoming Singapore prime minister Lawrence Wong. There is no doubt that power to rule the country is vested in him and his government, in contrast to imperial China where emperors and their prime ministers engaged in power struggles. Photo: Xinhua

Wee Kek Koon

Published: 7:45am, 13 May 2024Updated: 11:48am, 16 May 2024

Singapore will have a new prime minister on May 15, when the incumbent Lee Hsien Loong steps down, and Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai takes over. Wong will only be the city state’s fourth prime minister in its 59 years as an independent country.

Despite the impression that Wong is an “anointed successor” to the office, he, like the prime ministers before him, still has to stand in elections.

There is speculation that the next general election, which must be held by November 2025, will take place before the end of this year, when Singapore’s 2.7 million registered voters will decide whether we want Wong to continue as our prime minister.

Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a ceremonial president as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government who actually runs the country. Many people in East Asia are not familiar with this system of government. The nearest countries with similar arrangements are Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

Singaporeans arrive to vote at a polling station during the city state’s presidential election in September 2023. The president’s role is ceremonial. Photo: AFP

While countries like China, France and South Korea also have presidents and the equivalent of prime ministers, their presidents exercise executive authority, and have more powers than their premiers.