Singapore reshuffle

– Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reshuffled his cabinet yesterday, naming one of his potential successors, Chan Chun Sing, as trade minister and giving additional duties to two other ministers tipped as contenders.

Lee, the eldest son of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, has made clear he is ready to stand down in the next couple of years, but no obvious successor has emerged from a group of 16 ministers tasked with picking a leader from within their ranks.

Chan is one of three potential successors touted by Singapore’s media and political analysts, alongside Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat and Education Minister Ong Ye Kung.

The People’s Action Party has ruled the island-state since its independence more than 50 years ago, and there have been only three prime ministers.

Singapore’s next general election is due by early 2021. –