SINGAPORE - Former minister Khaw Boon Wan was tapped to facilitate the selection of the People's Action Party's fourth-generation (4G) leader, as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other ministers wanted the process to be systematic and thorough.
Explaining why the process of picking Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, 49, as 4G leader differed from that of previous generations, PM Lee said the party had sought to do so in a way "which encourages candour, introspection and objectivity, yet without impairing mutual relationship and trust amongst the team".
Former prime minister Goh Chok Tong was chosen by his peers to lead the PAP's second-generation team at an informal meeting after the 1984 election, while a group of ministers decided on PM Lee as the third-generation leader at a lunch.
Disclosing these details on Saturday (April 16) at a press conference, PM Lee said: "People must be able to speak honestly to express their views of the strengths and weaknesses of the different potential candidates and speak frankly: What do they worry about? What do they feel comfortable about? Whom they would like to support? But do it in such a way that the views can be put together.
"If there are different views and different concerns, then their concerns can be surfaced without it being personalised - an "I like you" and "I do not like you" matter.
"And then people can think it over again, and maybe reconsider their conclusion, but we want you to be in a collected, dispassionate, almost Zen state of mind, when you said I think for Singapore, this is the best choice, putting aside personal preferences, ambitions and biases."
PM Lee said this was the third time that the party's leaders were going through the process, which was done in different ways previously.
With Mr Goh's selection process in the 1980s, a small group of at most six ministers had met after the 1984 election "very informally, and had made the decision", he said.
Recounting how he was selected, PM Lee said the decision had been settled over a lunch hosted by then Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng. This time, it was a larger group of ministers involved, though not all of them made the decision.
"I was very moved that everybody felt that it was a straightforward matter, and then we came to a conclusion very quickly," he said.
Most recently, when it came to the turn of the 4G team to choose their leader, PM Lee said he wanted a more systematic process: "We felt that a more systematic way of doing this, rather than all sit down and then we nod our heads politely, is to have a process, and we concluded that Mr Khaw Boon Wan is the best person to lead the process."
Fundamentally, the intent was to bring everybody together and reach a choice of a new leader in a way that fosters consensus and trust, and helps this person to consolidate his standing and build his team as well as his ability to lead Singapore forward, PM Lee added.
As a former PAP chairman, Mr Khaw knows all of the ministers and also has their trust, explained PM Lee in Mandarin.
On accepting the task, Mr Khaw then thought over how he would approach the process and decided on speaking to the stakeholders individually.
This included all the Cabinet ministers - excluding PM Lee and Senior Ministers Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam - and also labour chief Ng Chee Meng as well as Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin.
PM Lee said Mr Ng was involved because it was important to consider the views of the National Trades Union Congress. And Mr Ng - like Mr Tan - had been involved in the previous decision involving Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat.
Mr Heng, 61, had stepped aside as the leader of the 4G team last year to pave the way for a younger person with a longer runway to lead the country.
At the press conference, Mr Lee was also asked about why there was a difference between the selection process for Mr Heng and Mr Wong. When the team selected Mr Heng to lead, the process had involved office-holders as well, not just ministers.
To this, PM Lee said Mr Heng had opted for a more inclusive process that entailed getting support from the ministers of state and other office-holders before going to the caucus of PAP MPs.
This time round, only the Cabinet ministers were involved, as they - along with the prime minister who is first among equals - have collective responsibility for governing Singapore, he noted.
The decision was subsequently presented to PAP MPs, including office-holders, who supported it, PM Lee said. "And of course, I and the two Senior Ministers have also strongly supported the choice."
In a subsequent Facebook post on the selection, PM Lee wrote: "It was a thorough and carefully deliberated process, with the strengths and weaknesses of the potential candidates actively sought.
"The senior Cabinet members and myself will guide and advise the younger team as we transition towards the new leadership. I wish Lawrence and his team the very best in carrying Singapore forward."