SINGAPORE, July 26 — Singapore’s fourth generation (4G) leaders are fully backing Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat as their leader, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said today.

"We are — all of us, in complete unity — behind the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, so there is no need for any discussions or questions on that. We are in absolute unity under his lead,” Balakrishnan said, stressing that he was speaking on behalf of the 4G.

Balakrishnan made the remark a day after the announcement of the new Cabinet line-up, which saw Heng, who is also Finance Minister, taking on an additional appointment as Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies.

During yesterday’s press conference to unveil the new line-up, a question was posed about whether the 4G leaders had discussed or reviewed their position on backing Heng as leader.

Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing took the question at Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s prompt, and said: "We are entirely focused on helping our country overcome the economic challenges and saving the jobs at this point in time.

"We have no plans to do otherwise and we have no plans, no discussion on any changing (of the) plan.”

Heng was expected to succeed Lee as premier, after he was appointed first assistant secretary-general of the People's Action Party (PAP) in 2018. Heng, in turn, had asked Chan to be his deputy, and the latter was appointed second assistant secretary-general.

However, there had been talk on whether the leadership succession should be relooked after a team led by Heng won East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC) by 53.4 per cent — down from 2015, when PAP won by 60.7 per cent.

Balakrishnan was speaking to reporters at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority building in Woodlands after meeting his Malaysian counterpart Hishammuddin Hussein to finalise the Reciprocal Green Lane and Periodic Commuting Arrangement.

Asked about the implications of the Cabinet reshuffle on leadership renewal, Balakrishnan reiterated Lee’s answer to a similar question yesterday.

"This is a Cabinet reshuffle that reflects the need for continuity, the need for rotation, and the need for renewal. And if you look carefully at the composition, and in fact at the moves that the Prime Minister has made, it reflects all these three priorities,” he said.

Lee had said yesterday that the question of whether he can still hand over the reins to his successor by the time he turns 70 in 2022, as he had hoped, will now depend on how quickly the Covid-19 pandemic can be brought under control. — TODAY