SINGAPORE – The PAP conference is an important occasion for party leadership renewal, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong ahead of the biennial party meeting on Oct 25.
In a video message posted to social media on Oct 24, PM Wong 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.”
These are the first comments from PM Wong, who is also the party’s secretary-general, on the possible composition of the party’s new leadership team, including the chance of including new faces.
The conference, held every two years, features the party’s internal election for its top leadership body – its central executive committee (CEC).
There, party cadres will elect members of the CEC, said PM Wong.
The ruling party’s cadres, who form its inner circle and number more than 2,000, usually elect 12 candidates into the CEC, which then co-opts the next two highest vote-getters.
The new CEC usually later co-opts up to another four members to reach a committee of 18, its maximum size.
It also parcels out different roles, such as chairman and treasurer, amongst its members.
The majority of the current CEC, the party’s 38th, is made up of the party’s fourth-generation leaders, with the notable exceptions of Senior Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and K. Shanmugam.
This will be the first chance for some of the PAP’s 27 first-term MPs from the 2025 general election to be elected to the committee.
PM Wong, in his post, noted that this will be the first party conference since Singapore went to the polls.
At the first CEC meeting after the previous conference in 2024, he took over as party chief completing a generational transfer of power from Lee.
The party conference alternates yearly with the party’s convention, where there is no vote.
At 2025’s party convention, PM Wong said he hoped the outline of the PAP’s next generation of leaders would emerge by the next general election, due by 2030.
The conference is a useful occasion for the ruling party to take stock of what it has done and set out its priorities for the rest of the term, PM Wong said on Oct 24.
Singaporeans gave the party a strong mandate, he noted. His party won the election, his first as party chief, with 65.57% of the vote.
“We will deliver on our promises, tackle the challenges ahead, and work hard to improve the lives of all Singaporeans.”