It?s one of Singapore?s best-kept political secrets : the date when Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong will hand power this year to chosen successor Lee Hsien Loong ? the second leadership transition in Singapore?s history. Lee, son of modern Singapore?s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, dropped a clue, saying any transition would not come before Singapore?s annual National Day on August 9, defusing speculation that the handover could come earlier.

Lee told reporters that Goh will read the annual National Day speech, indicating that the city-state?s first political handover in 14 years would not take place before then, the Straits Times reported yesterday. ?The PM will deliver the speech,? said 52-year-old Lee, a Brigadier-General who is also Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and head of the central bank.

Goh will announce the exact handover date in July, the long-ruling People?s Action Party said yesterday. The party?s central executive committee formally endorsed Lee as the next leader on Saturday after he won the unanimous backing of the party?s caucus in a vote on Friday and after a group of younger ministers unanimously backed him on May 22. Goh said in December he would make a decision on the timing after May?s release of first quarter economic statistics, and said some time ago he wanted to give Lee two years to settle into the top job before general elections due by 2007.

<B>?Seat warmer?</B>

Goh, once written off as a mere seat warmer for the Lee family, remains immensely well-liked by ordinary Singaporeans. His affable style has helped his ministers administer harsh medicine such as wage cuts despite rising unemployment. Though a smooth transition is expected, the younger Lee, like his father a stern authoritarian figure, will have trouble measuring up in terms of popularity. Goh admitted as much in August when he urged Lee to ?to let his softer side show.?

The leadership transfer will be only the second in Singapore since the elder Lee spearheaded independence from Malaysia in 1965. But few expect a change in government policy. ?This handover looks like it will be business as usual,? said Chua Beng Huat, a sociology professor at National University of Singapore, who has written several books on Singapore politics.

?There will be a cabinet reshuffle but everyone who is going to be taking over has been in politics for umpteen years already. It?s not like there is going to be any surprise.?

Goh said in April he planned several trips as Prime Minister in May and June, starting with Washington on May 5, and planned a broad reshuffling of his cabinet, which has not yet happened.

Many political analysts expect Goh to be appointed to the advisory post of senior minister in the new Lee government, a post now also held by Lee Kuan Yew, who said around the time of his 80th birthday this year that he planned to stay in politics.

<B>Jason Szep</B>