A workmanlike Cabinet reshuffle focusing on immediate priorities

It is not surprising that there was no comprehensive reshuffle this time when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the latest set of changes to his Cabinet line-up on Monday (Jun 6). The spotlight naturally fell on Finance Minister Lawrence Wong who was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister from Jun 13, while continuing in the finance portfolio.

The expected promotion came less than 2 months after Wong, 49, was chosen by his peers to be the new leader of the People’s Action Party (PAP)’s fourth-generation (4G) leadership. This puts him in line to be Singapore’s next prime minister should the ruling party win the next general election (GE) that must be held by November 2025.

DPM Heng Swee Keat’s surprise decision to step aside last year as the 4G leader precipitated extensive changes in the previous reshuffle in May 2021, which had come less than a year after PM Lee had formed his Cabinet after the July 2020 GE. Then, a total of 7 Ministries saw new heads - Communications and Information, Education, Finance, Health, Manpower, Trade and Industry, and Transport.