SINGAPORE, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- ingapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong announced Saturday the line-up of its new Cabinet, following the general election earlier this month, which saw his party, the People's Action Party returned to power for another term.
There were little surprise among the Cabinet ministers, apart from the appointment of Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as Finance Minister. DPM Lee is also the Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the de-facto central bank, and pundits had predicted that the Finance Ministry post would go to someone else.
Lee, the son of Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew the founder of the republic, is widely anticipated to become Prime Minister before the next general elections in 2007.
In a statement, Goh indicated that changes in the Cabinet would take place around mid-term.
The other expected appointment was that of Tharman Shanmugaratnam, formally the Managing Director of the MAS, which is now appointed as a Senior Minister of Trade, under Minister of Trade George Yeo, who retained his post.
The new line-up will be sworn in on November 23.
