A leader of the People's Action Party and an activist for more consultative mechanisms of government, Goh Chok Tong (born 1941) became Singapore's prime minister on November 28, 1990.

Goh Chok Tong's appointment as the first deputy prime minister after the victory of the People's Action Party (PAP) in the December 1984 general election was the first indication to Singaporeans that he would succeed Lee Kuan Yew, the only prime minister of Singapore since June 1959, when the PAP government first assumed office. After the September 1988 general election, which reelected the PAP government for the seventh time, Goh informed Singaporeans that he would succeed Lee as prime minister in two years' time. Later, Goh confirmed that while Lee would step down as prime minister on November 28, 1990, he would still be a senior cabinet minister.

In a sense, the political renewal of the PAP and the search for the second generation leaders to replace...