Singapore is facing a very big storm and it needs the strongest leadership team with the strongest mandate to see it through the Covid-19 crisis, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

This team will also need "the longest runway so that Singapore can have the best leadership" to overcome the pandemic, he said in an interview at the Istana.

"That is a very desirable, and in fact essential, requirement for us to see through this together," PM Lee said.

Asked how he will decide on when to call the general election (GE), PM Lee said "it is a very difficult decision". The ideal situation is that the coronavirus outbreak will settle within the next six months, and an election can be held then, he said.

"But nobody can say. It may well get worse, and I expect it can easily get worse before it gets better," said PM Lee, noting that the situation may take a year or two before it normalises. The GE must be held by April next year.

"You have to make a judgment in this situation with an outbreak going on, with all sorts of exceptional measures implemented in Singapore, is it possible for us to conduct an election and to get this done so that we clear the decks and we can go through and deal with whatever lies ahead?" he added.

PM Lee noted that holding an election would be difficult in a state of general shutdown, such as that in the United Kingdom, as the logistics of getting ballot boxes in place and voting would not be easy.

"But short of that situation, even when you have restrictions and some safe distancing measures, life still goes on: People are working, people can travel, people can conduct the polls," he said.

He cited how countries like Israel have carried out elections recently, as has the United States, where most states carried on with primary elections.

Social media and the Internet mean that while the situation might not be ideal, communicating messages is much more convenient than in the past, and an election can carry on with appropriate measures in place, he said.

"So, these are, to a large extent, solvable problems," PM Lee said.

"You have to think of solutions for them, but it can be done, and I think that we have to weigh conducting an election under abnormal circumstances against going into a storm with a (government) mandate which is reaching the end of its term," he said. "I would not rule any possibility out."

Changes to electoral boundaries were announced two weeks ago, fuelling expectations that the next GE would be held within the next few months.

In an earlier Facebook post, PM Lee had said the elections can be called only after the electoral registers are updated, and that this would take about a month. The final Registers of Electors will be officially certified after April 14.

"Once that is done, that means all possibilities are there. I will have to judge the situation," he told reporters yesterday.

On how the fourth-generation leaders have handled the Covid-19 response, PM Lee said he is very happy to have placed National Development Minister Lawrence Wong and Health Minister Gan Kim Yong in charge of the multi-ministry task force tackling the virus.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is advising them, has also been instrumental in putting together the Unity Budget and supplementary Resilience Budget, said PM Lee.

The people have seen them answer questions and deal with emergency situations such as runs on food and big outbreaks, he said.

"They have gained experience and confidence, and I believe that they have also gained in trust and rapport with the people," he said. "It is a formative experience for the population and the leadership."

While the Pioneer Generation "were born in a crucible of fire" and brought Singapore through independence, separation and forward, and the Merdeka Generation played a big part in buttressing those foundations, Singaporeans have for decades not experienced major tumult, said PM Lee.

"We regularly tell people Singapore is fragile, what we have achieved is precious, we have to continue to work hard, and it can disappear in a moment if you take your eye off the ball," he said.

"People listen to us, but in the back of their mind they do wonder if it is true or not. After all, the show has gone on for so many years; maybe you can go on autopilot."

Covid-19 has shown everyone that the threat against Singapore's way of life is deadly serious, he said.

"It is absolutely existential - life and death - it is not masak masak (Malay for playing around).

"(But) if you come through this, you have more than one generation settled, knowing what Singapore is about."