Analysts: No surprise Jeffrey Siow and Jasmin Lau were not endorsed for PAP's top committee given limited experience

Despite the People's Action Party's (PAP) efforts to renew its leadership, rising political stars were not among the recommended candidates in its Central Executive Committee (CEC) election.

Political observers interviewed said the party may have considered that an experienced leadership team was still needed to steer the country through external challenges. Besides being directly elected, new faces can also join the CEC through co-option.

The PAP held its party conference on Sunday (25 October) to elect its 39th CEC. Nineteen people were nominated, including seven recommended to cadre members by the outgoing CEC — commonly known as the “core seven”.

One focus of attention was whether younger political office-holders would enter the CEC. Party insiders said Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance Jeffrey Siow and Acting Minister for Manpower and Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau were both nominated. However, neither was among the “core seven”, indicating that they did not receive the outgoing committee's strong endorsement.

In a short video posted on social media on Saturday (24 October), Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who is also secretary-general of the PAP, said the party conference was an important opportunity to advance leadership renewal. He said he looked forward to working with a team combining extensive experience with fresh perspectives. The election results, however, appeared to fall short of his expectations.

Independent political observer Dr Felix Tan said in an interview that the “core seven” bore particularly heavy leadership responsibilities. Given the current situation in the region, especially recent friction with Indonesia over haze, as well as global developments, there was no strong justification for replacing experienced leaders with newcomers. People would instead want some consistency within the party leadership.

Associate Professor Eugene Tan at Singapore Management University's Yong Pung How School of Law noted that Siow and Lau were relatively inexperienced and had not been in the PAP for long. Neither had an established track record within the party or as a political office-holder. “It is normal that the two of them didn't appear on the list of the ‘core seven’. It would be a big surprise if one or both of them appear on the list.”

The PAP elected 12 CEC members on Sunday, with the candidates who ranked 13th and 14th in the vote co-opted into the committee. Although Siow and Lau were not among them, they can still become CEC members later. At its first meeting, the new CEC can co-opt up to four more members.

Even if Siow and Law ultimately do not join the CEC, Dr Tan and Eugene Tan said PM Wong could still assign them tasks and have them work with CEC members on projects, allowing him to assess their abilities.

Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, said Siow and Lau had attracted considerable public discussion. He believed some people would be quite surprised if the two did not subsequently join the CEC.

National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) secretary-general Ng Chee Meng was again absent from the list of candidates for this CEC election. He is also a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.

Dr Tan said this could be linked to controversies surrounding Ng, including allegations that he had treated teachers disrespectfully at a dialogue in 2017, and his appointment as a cabinet minister despite a narrow victory in the 2025 parliamentary election.

“It is a perception issue regarding Ng Chee Meng. These controversies is not working in his favour. The last thing that the PAP will want is for attention to be taken away from the CEC and from the core team and focused on him.”

Eugene Tan was nevertheless fairly certain that Ng would subsequently be co-opted into the CEC in his capacity as NTUC secretary-general. He would represent the labour movement and local workers, as the job market currently faces numerous challenges such as the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).

Lau could also be co-opted for the same reason, according to Dr Tan, as she not only helms the Ministry of Manpower but also oversees AI matters in the cabinet.

All 14 elected and co-opted members of the new CEC served on the previous committee. Dr Mustafa expected little change in their responsibilities, with PM Wong likely to favour stability. He said the PAP's 2028 CEC election would be worth watching as the next general election would be approaching. PM Wong's choices for the committee could offer clues to how the PAP would contest that election.