The prime minister of Singapore is the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...

of the Republic of Singapore. The

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

appoints the prime minister, a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) who in their opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of the majority of MPs. The incumbent prime minister is

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...

, who took office on 12 August 2004. As Singapore is modelled after the Westminster system, the prime minister only governs with the

confidence Confidence is a state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Confidence comes from a Latin word 'fidere' which means "to trust"; therefore, having ...

of the majority in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a

(MP) and leads the largest party or a coalition of parties. In practice, the prime minister is the leader of the political party with the majority number of elected MPs.

History

The office of Prime Minister succeeded the office of

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

in 1959 after Singapore had attained self-governance from the United Kingdom, as the State of Singapore, with

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

being sworn in as the first prime minister on 5 June 1959. The title of prime minister remained unchanged after Singapore's merger with Malaya,

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

and North Borneo to form

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

in 1963, despite the existence of the

prime minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the fed ...

for the entire federation of which Singapore was part of. Following the independence of Singapore in 1965, the office of Prime Minister was retained, with the

president of Singapore The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Republic of Singapore. The role of the president is to safeguard the reserves and the integrity of the public service. The presidency is largely ceremonial, with the Cabinet led by the prime ...

becoming a ceremonial head of state. In 1991, amendments to the

Constitution of Singapore The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore is the supreme law of Singapore. A written constitution, the text which took effect on 9 August 1965 is derived from the Constitution of the State of Singapore 1963, provisions of the Federal Const ...

vested executive powers in the presidency, along with discretionary veto powers over the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

. The Constitution also vests "general direction and control of the government" in the Cabinet, with the president almost always bound to act on the advice of the Cabinet or any minister acting under the Cabinet authority. Thus, in practice, most of the actual work of governing is done by the prime minister and Cabinet. Under Article 26(4)(a) of the

, the prime minister may appoint a Cabinet minister, subject to presidential approval, as acting prime minister if the prime minister is on medical leave, away from Singapore or is granted a leave of absence under Article 32 of the Constitution. The deputy prime minister or senior minister will usually become the acting prime minister, but any Cabinet minister may be appointed to the role.

Authority

Under the Constitution, executive power is nominally vested in the president. However, the president can only exercise that authority on the advice of the Cabinet or a minister acting under general Cabinet authority. Hence, in practice the prime minister, as the Cabinet's leader, does most of the actual work of governing. The prime minister is responsible for overseeing the overall day-to-day affairs of the government and executing government policy. As leader of the majority party in Parliament, the prime minister is responsible for passing legislation through Parliament. The prime minister also nominates the speaker of Parliament and leader of the house, who are responsible for arranging government business and organising legislative programmes, usually under the directive of the prime minister and the Cabinet. The prime minister chooses the other members of the Cabinet by advising the president; the president must exercise their powers in accordance with the advice of the prime minister. The prime minister may change, retain, or revoke any sitting minister's appointment under their prerogative. The prime minister also advises the president on appointments, such as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, and Permanent Secretary of a ministry. The prime minister can advise the president for a Proclamation of Emergency; the president issues the proclamation if satisfied. The prime minister can declare a defence or security measure, and has executive authority over the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) through the Armed Forces Council, which consists of Minister for Defence, Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), Chief of Defence Force, Chief of Army, Chief of Air Force and Chief of Navy; all of whom are appointed by the president under the prime minister's advice.

Privileges

Sri Temasek is the official residence of the prime minister, though none of the prime ministers have ever lived there. The Istana is the working office of the prime minister. The prime minister is protected by the Specialised Security Command of the

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; huma ...

(SPF), who also ensure the protection of the

, Cabinet ministers, and visiting foreign dignitaries. The annual total salary package the prime minister would receive, including the 13th month bonus, Annual Variable Component and National Bonus, that is twice the MR4 benchmark, stands at . As there is no one to decide on the annual performance bonus for the prime minister, the prime minister's bonus will be based only on the National Bonus. The prime minister is also on the Medisave-cum-Subsidised Outpatient (MSO) scheme—where an additional 2% of their gross monthly salary will be credited into their Medisave account. The prime minister's annual salary was prior to a salary review in 2011. On 21 May 2011, a committee was set by Prime Minister

, to review the salaries of the prime minister as well as the president, ministers, members of Parliament and other political officeholders. After the recommended wage reductions by the committee were accepted in Parliament, the prime minister's salary was reduced by 36%—including the removal of his pension to or approximately at that time. Nonetheless, the prime minister of Singapore remains the highest-paid political leader in the world.

List of prime ministers

References

External links

Prime Minister's Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister Of Singapore Lists of political office-holders in Singapore

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...