Photo: AFP/Mark Cheong
Eurasia
16/04/2024 17:01
Lee, 72, will formally advise the city-state’s president to appoint Wong, who is currently deputy prime minister and finance minister, to succeed him, his office said in a brief statement. Wong, who has the unanimous support of lawmakers in the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), will be sworn in at the national palace later the same day, it said.
Lee has served as prime minister and head of the PAP since August 2004.
Lee announced last November that he would retire this year and has already named Wong as his designated successor. Lee originally planned to step down before turning 70, but those plans were shelved because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For any country, a leadership transition is a significant moment. Lawrence and the 4G (fourth-generation) team have worked hard to gain the people’s trust, notably during the pandemic,” Lee said in a Facebook post on Monday. “I ask all Singaporeans to give Lawrence and his team your full support, and work with them to create a brighter future for Singapore.”
Lee has said there is no reason to delay the political transition and that passing the baton to Wong before national elections due next year will allow the 51-year-old politician to win his own mandate and take the country forward.
In April 2025, Tashkent will host the 150th anniversary Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) for the first time in the history of Central Asia. This event brings together over 2000 parliamentarians from more than 100 national parliaments, providing a unique opportunity to discuss key global issues.
On April 3-4 of this year, Samarkand will host the first-ever high-level meeting between the European Union and the Central Asian countries. This landmark event will open a new chapter in relations between the regions, marking a transition to a qualitatively new level of multilateral cooperation. The very fact of organizing such a dialogue highlights the EU's strong interest in developing cooperation and its commitment to strengthening partnerships with the Central Asian states.
On 31 March, the city of Khujand, Tajikistan, hosted a trilateral summit attended by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, and President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan. This momentous occasion marked the culmination of the border delimitation process among the three nations, a pivotal milestone in Central Asian geopolitics.