Mr Khaw then reported his findings to the ministers and the PAP MPs on Thursday, and Mr Wong was collectively endorsed as the leader of the 4G team.
Mr Lee highlighted how the process had been carried out previously.
When Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was selected, a “small group” of five to six ministers met after the 1984 elections “very informally” and made the decision, he said.
In Mr Lee’s case, former coordinating minister Wong Kan Seng chaired a group of ministers and the decision was made over a lunch hosted by the former minister.
When Mr Heng was previously chosen to lead the PAP’s 4G team, other political officeholders like the Senior Ministers of State and the Ministers of State were drawn into the process.
This time, only the Cabinet, as well as Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng were involved.
The Cabinet is the Prime Minister’s “key team”, said Mr Lee, in response to a question about why the process this time was different.
After the ministers decided on Mr Heng, he had decided to go for “a more inclusive process” and wanted to talk to the other political officeholders to “get their support” before going to the caucus of MPs.
In Mr Wong’s case, the MPs, including the other political officeholders, were approached after the ministers had made their decision.
The MPs, as well as the Prime Minister and the two Senior Ministers, supported the choice, said Mr Lee.
“I think it’s a variation in process. But the essential thing is that the Prime Minister and his Cabinet ministers must have absolute trust and confidence in one another and must support one another. Support the leader, support the team, work together, and they are one,” he added.
In the previous 4G leadership selection exercise, Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing was also chosen as Mr Heng’s deputy.
Responding to a question about whether there will be a deputy chosen for Mr Wong, the Prime Minister noted that in Mr Heng and Mr Chan’s case, the ministers involved in the process “thought they wanted to have a pairing” and that this would be the “best choice”.
“In this case, the exercise was to choose the leader of the 4G team. It is not to choose his deputy, it is not to choose a 5G leader. Therefore, there is no decision made on the deputy,” said Mr Lee.
Mr Wong will decide who will be his deputy and who will be in his core team “in due course”, the Prime Minister continued.
“I hope he and his colleagues will work hard to identify and induct more promising leaders into the team to build up the 5G team for Singapore.”
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