Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on Monday that he will step down on May 15 after a 20-year term. Wong will be only the second non-Lee family member to rule the wealthy city-state.
Wong was chosen as Lee's successor in 2022 from a new generation of MPs from the People's Action Party (PAP) which has governed Singapore continuously since its independence in 1965. General elections are due to take place by November 2025, but according to some sources they could take place this year. The PAP's image has been tarnished recently by scandals which saw two MPs resign and a minister indicted in court for corruption. The Workers' Party, the main opposition party, has also suffered from scandals with the resignation of two of its members and an accusation of false testimony targeting its leader before a parliamentary committee. The last elections in 2020, the opposition achieved its best performance since independence, but failed to make a breakthrough in Parliament since 83 of the 93 seats were won by the PAP.