Lawrence Wong elected PAP deputy secretary-general in newly created function

SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong was on Saturday (Nov 26) elected deputy secretary-general of the Folks’s Motion Occasion (PAP), following a gathering of the occasion’s prime decision-making physique.

In a information launch, the occasion mentioned: “The CEC (Central Govt Committee) has made a brand new deputy secretary-general appointment, along with two assistant secretary-general appointments, consistent with plans for the occasion management transition.”

The 2 assistant secretary-generals are Schooling Minister Chan Chun Sing and Minister for Nationwide Improvement Desmond Lee. 

Within the earlier CEC line-up, Mr Chan was second assistant secretary-general with Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat first assistant secretary-general.

This numerical order has been faraway from the PAP’s latest checklist of CEC office-holders. 

When Mr Heng first assumed the function of first assistant secretary-general in 2018, it was seen as a sign that he was the frontrunner to be Singapore’s subsequent prime minister.

After he took himself out of rivalry final yr, Mr Wong was named in April as chief of the PAP’s fourth-generation or 4G group, paving the way in which for him to succeed Mr Lee Hsien Loong as a substitute.

“The deputy secretary-general will train the roles and duties of PAP secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong in his absence,” mentioned the occasion in its launch on Saturday.

Its thirty seventh CEC named Mr Heng as chairman, changing Minister for Commerce and Business Gan Kim Yong who announced at the party’s conference earlier this month that he was stepping down.

Minister for Social and Household Improvement Masagos Zulkifli has been re-elected as vice-chairman.

Minister for Tradition, Neighborhood and Youth and Second Minister for Regulation Edwin Tong is now organising secretary, alongside Minister for Sustainability and the Surroundings Grace Fu.

4 extra members have additionally been co-opted into the PAP’s CEC.

They’re Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, Nationwide Trades Union Congress (NTUC) secretary-general Ng Chee Meng, Member of Parliament for East Coast Cheryl Chan and Mr Alex Yeo, who’s a non-elected PAP consultant in Aljunied GRC.  

The complete checklist of CEC members and their designations is as follows: