(This story has been corrected to say social policies, not health, in paragraph 9)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday after his party’s election victory, with the premier retaining nine ministers as well as the finance portfolio he has held since 2021.
Wong, who led the ruling People’s Action Party to a decisive win on May 3 in his first election as premier, appointed six new ministers to the 15 portfolios excluding his office, in a move to retain experienced players during an uncertain time for the economy.
Wong, 52, kept the key roles unchanged, with Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong remaining deputy premier. He did not appoint a second deputy, unlike with previous Singapore cabinets.
“We are operating in a changed world, with rising trade barriers, sharper competition, and greater uncertainty,” Wong said in an announcement by his office.
“We need experienced hands at the helm. So I’m keeping most of the ministers in their current roles during this critical period.”
The PAP won nearly two-thirds of the vote in an election that was seen as a bellwether of its popularity amid some signs of disenchantment with cost of living in the Asian financial hub, whose six million people have known no other kind of government since independence in 1965.
The reshuffle is Wong’s biggest since taking over as premierin May last year from Lee Hsien Loong, who was in power for two decades and is the son of founding father Lee Kuan Yew. Most ministers appointed by Lee were retained in Wong’s last reshuffle.
Wong has promised “new blood, new ideas and new energy” and fielded 32 new faces in the election in May for 97 house seats.
Wong gave ministerial portfolios to two newly elected lawmakers. He also appointed three ministers as coordinating ministers for national security, public services and social policies.
Several political heavyweights retired before the election, including Singapore’s longest-serving defence minister, a former deputy prime minister under Lee, and another deputy premier who had once been tipped for the top job.
(Reporting by Xinghui Kok, Jun Yuan Yong and Bing Hong Lok; Editing by Martin Petty)
