Tan Cheng Bock: Tharman is the best candidate to be S’pore’s next PM – but lacks ‘killer instincts’

Former presidential candidate Dr Tan Cheng Bock said that Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam is the best person to be the next Prime Minister of Singapore. Dr Tan made that comment in his speech he delivered for a local think-tank, Future of Singapore, last Saturday (16 Dec).

Dr Tan said that several people had expressed to him their concerns about who the next Prime Minister of Singapore might be. He added that he had worked with Mr Tharman on several projects and knows first hand that he is a very capable person whose heart is in the right place. Dr Tan however noted that Mr Tharman lacked the ‘killer instinct’.

Mr Tharman is the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore. A poll of our readers in September last year showed that a large majority of Singaporeans supported Tharman to be the next Prime Minister of Singapore. A scientific poll commissioned by Yahoo Singapore and conducted by pollster Blackbox, later confirmed that the views of our readers were accurate.

Mr Tharman however, categorically ruled himself out from the race to be Singapore’s next Prime Minister.

“Just to be absolutely clear, because I know there’s this talk going around … I’m not the man for PM, I say that categorically. It’s not me.” – Tharman Shanmugaratnam

https://theindependent.sg.sg/im-not-the-man-pm-tharman-rules-himself-out/

Mr Chan Chun Sing and Mr Heng Swee Keat remain the top two contenders to be the next Prime Minister of Singapore.

Mr Chan who currently holds the position of Minister without Portfolio in the Prime Minister’s Office said that he and his colleagues are all prepared to become next PM if called upon.

Mr Heng who is the Finance Minister of Singapore who was seen as the top contender before his stroke in the middle of last year, recently side-stepped the question of if he will be Singapore’s next PM.

https://theindependent.sg.sg/heng-swee-keat-deftly-deflects-question-on-whether-he-will-be-the-next-prime-minister/