SINGAPORE, July 25 — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has previously said that he hopes to step down by the time he turns 70, but he acknowledged today that the Covid-19 pandemic may have other plans for him.

During a briefing on the latest Cabinet reshuffle,  Lee, who is now 68, was asked how his hope squares with the promise he made to voters during the recent election campaign that he would stay on through the crisis and hand over the country “in good shape” to the fourth generation of political leaders before retiring. 

He replied: “I had expressed the hope that I would be able to hand over by the time I celebrate my 70th birthday. But I do not determine the path of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it will also depend on how events unfold.

“And all I can say is, I will see this through. And I’ll hand over in good shape as soon as possible to the next team, and into good hands.”

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 Lee has been expressing his wish to step down by the age of 70 since at least 2017.

In an interview with CNBC in October that year, he said he was ready to step down, but that he needed to make sure that someone else was ready to take over.

As recently as November last year, during the People’s Action Party convention, he said that while he would take the lead in the next General Election, the fourth-generation team of leaders would be the ones “in the thick of things”.

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Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat has been widely tipped to take over the premiership after he was appointed to be the first assistant secretary-general of the People’s Action Party (PAP) in November last year.

When asked whether the fourth-generation, or 4G, leaders have discussed or reviewed their choice of  Heng as  Lee’s successor,  Lee referred the question to Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, who is the PAP’s second assistant secretary-general.

 Chan 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”. — TODAY