Practice Lead for Asia at public policy advisory firm Global Counsel, Mr Andrew Yeo, said: "Some might point to the four nays as being indicative of a divided administration, but I disagree with this notion. Mr Khaw was tasked by the Prime Minister not merely to determine the overall leader, but to do so in a way that forged consensus."
"This explains a departure from the tradition of only consulting within a small circle of ministers, but also signals their desire to secure a more robust and inclusive mandate for Singapore’s next leader, perhaps in acknowledgement of the politically fractured administrations we are seeing globally today."
Agreeing with Mr Yeo, senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore, Dr Woo Jun Jie, told TODAY that this "points towards a new way of leadership selection that is more formal and allows for more candid sharing of views from stakeholders who were consulted".
