Re: 6.9mil population in 2030 / PM Lee admits govt lacked foresight
He is planning for 2030, but not seeing that to materialise.....
Remain PM after 70? 'I hope not'
Remain PM after 70? 'I hope not'
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 60, who has held his post for eight years, would prefer not to retain it beyond 10 more years. -ST
Goh Ching Lian
Sun, Sep 30, 2012
The Straits Times
SINGAPORE - At the age of 60, Mr Lee Hsien Loong has held his post for eight years - and would prefer not to stay beyond 10 more years.
And definitely not till he is 80. "I do not see myself as prime minister in 20 years' time," said Mr Lee."I think if I am, something has gone seriously wrong."
During an interview with current affairs website Singapolitics, Mr Lee, who turned 60 in February, was queried about his future plans. Did he see himself continuing as prime minister beyond 70, he was asked.
"I hope not," he replied with nary a pause.
"Seventy is already a long time more. And Singapore needs a prime minister who is younger, who's got that energy, and who is in tune with that very much younger and very much different generation."
People's Action Party leaders have stressed the need for leadership renewal at the highest ranks. Singapore's first two prime ministers stepped down when they were in their 60s.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew was 67 when he made way for Mr Goh Chok Tong in 1990, having served for 31 years. Mr Goh in turn relinquished his position to the current PM at the age of 63, after 14 years at the country's helm.
And just as Mr Goh had started scouring for PM No. 3 even before he took over, Mr Lee Hsien Loong too was looking out for his successor when he took office in 2004.
Barely two weeks after becoming prime minister, he declared in his maiden National Day Rally speech that one of his chief tasks was to launch an early search for Singapore's fourth-generation leader.
Since last year's general election, several new faces have moved to the Frontbench within the year and they have been described as being part of the fourth-generation leadership.
They include Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, Acting Community, Youth and Sports Minister Chan Chun Sing, Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin and Senior Minister of State for Education, and Information, Communications and the Arts Lawrence Wong.
During the interview, when asked if he saw colleagues in the present Cabinet who are prime ministerial potential, Mr Lee chose to keep any assessments to himself. He merely replied with a smile: "I think it's early days to say."
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