Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Teo Chee Hean and Khaw Boon Wan among 5 senior politicians to leave PAP CEC

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced this morning at the People’s Action Party (PAP)’s awards and conference that five senior politicians will be stepping down from the ruling party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).

Lee – who also serves as secretary-general of the PAP – announced that the five members set to retire from the CEC are both Deputy Prime Ministers Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Teo Chee Hean, as well as Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan, former Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim and ex-Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say.

Both Yaacob Ibrahim and Lim Swee Say retired from the Cabinet during the latest Cabinet reshuffle earlier this year.

Noting that both DPMs and the Transport Minister remain in the Cabinet, PM Lee called these three his “closest comrades in arms”.

The PAP is expected to elect younger leaders to take more responsibilities within its CEC, which is the highest decision-making body in the party. Political analysts have said that the roles the younger ministers take within the CEC could give an indication as to who the next Prime Minister might be.