PAP elects top leadership, no new names among 14 members announced

[SINGAPORE] Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat has been voted onto the PAP’s top leadership for the first time.

Results of the party’s central executive committee (CEC) election showed Chee as the sole new name among the top 12 vote-getters elected by the PAP’s cadres on Oct 25.

He had been co-opted to the previous CEC in 2024 and held the position of assistant treasurer.

The other 11 were Lawrence Wong, Lee Hsien Loong, Chan Chun Sing, Masagos Zulkifli, K. Shanmugam, Grace Fu, Edwin Tong, Indranee Rajah, Ong Ye Kung, Vivian Balakrishnan and Desmond Lee.

The results were announced by Lee, who is party chairman, at the conclusion of the PAP’s biennial conference at the Singapore Expo.

Lee also announced that ministers Tan See Leng and Zaqy Mohamad were co-opted into the leadership body, by party custom, as next two highest vote-getters outside of the top 12.

All 14 were on an earlier list of 19 candidates released by the party for cadres to consider at the vote that morning.

The five others included first-term ministers Jeffrey Siow and Jasmin Lau, who had made it onto the list of recommended candidates for the first time.

The other three were Alex Yam, Sim Ann and Josephine Teo.

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Siow and Lau, who are first-term MPs elected at the 2025 general election, were two of three new to the list of 19 recommended candidates.

The other was Zaqy, who is Acting minister-in-charge for Muslim Affairs. Siow is Transport Minister and Lau is Acting Manpower Minister.

Siow and Lau were promoted at a Cabinet reshuffle in July, and Zaqy was appointed acting minister days before that.

Zaqy was co-opted into the previous CEC then, but was not on the list of candidates for the previous vote in 2024.

This year’s list of 19 candidates was the same as the list from the previous party election in 2024, except for the three new names and three exceptions – Heng Swee Keat, Desmond Tan and Janil Puthucheary.

More than 2,000 cadres, who form the party’s inner circle, cast their votes at the party’s biennial conference held at the Singapore Expo on Oct 25.

The CEC at its first meeting traditionally parcels out the different roles such as chairman and treasurer between its members, and usually co-opts another four members to reach its maximum size of 18.

This follows a statement from Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Oct 24 where he said the PAP conference is an important occasion for party leadership renewal.

In a video message posted to social media on Oct 24, PM Wong, who is also the party’s secretary-general, said: “I look forward to working with a team that brings experience as well as fresh perspectives as we prepare the party for our work ahead.” THE STRAITS TIMES