싱가포르 4세대 대표 정치인 헹스위킷, 총리에선 멀어졌지만‥

*아시아엔 해외필진 기고문의 한글번역본과 원문을 함께 게재합니다.

[아시아엔=아이반 림 아시아기자협회 명예회장, 싱가포르 스트레이트타임즈 전 선임기자] 싱가포르 현지 방언 ‘Heng’은 “행운을 빕니다”라는 뜻을 지녔다. 싱가포르 구도심지 출신의 헹스위킷(Heng Swee Keat) 싱가포르 부총리는 고위 공직까지 올라간 것에 행운도 따랐다고 여겼다.

케임브리지와 하버드에서 수학한 헹스위킷은 2011년 총선에서 여당 인민행동당(PAP)의 주역 중 하나였다. 정치 신인이었지만 교육부장관에 임명됐고, 제 4세대(4G) 리더십의 핵심 멤버로 발빠르게 움직였다. 그는 이후 재무부 장관까지 차지했다. 리콴유 전 총리의 수석비서를 수행하며 호평 받았던 그는 일약 정치스타로 떠올랐고, 자연스레 2015년 총선에서도 재선에 성공했다.

헹스위킷은 재무부 장관 시절 예산안을 짜면서 세 가지 원칙을 내세웠다. ‘사람을 중심으로 계획과 전략을 세울 것’ ‘현상에 적응하며 장기 계획을 세울 것’ ‘함께 일할 것’. 그는 이러한 원칙을 ‘더 적은 것으로 더 많은 것을 이뤄내는’ 싱가포르의 전략이라 불렀다.

2017년, 국부 리콴유의 아들인 리셴룽 현 총리가 “70세가 되는 해 2022년 2월 퇴진하겠다”는 의사를 밝히자 후임자들이 물망에 오르기 시작했다. 2018년 11월 개최된 PAP 전당대회에서 헹의 4세대 동료들은 그를 당의 제1사무부총장으로 추대했다. 그리고 2019년 5월 1일, 고촉통 2대 총리, 리셴룽 3대 총리의 뒤를 잇는 후계자로 내정됐다.

그러나 2020년 1월 23일, 싱가포르에서 최초의 코로나19 감염자가 나타나며 사태가 급변했다. 싱가포르 정부는 코로나19 대유행로 인해 필수적인 활동 외의 외부 활동에 대해 제한령을 내렸다. 2020년 7월 치러진 싱가포르 총선, 각 정당들은 야외 집회가 아닌 실내에서의 가상 토론 등을 통해 유세활동에 나섰다. 여기서 지각변동이 일어났다. 4세대의 선두주자 헹이 그의 지역구가 아닌 다른 지역구에서 출마하게 되며 정치적 생존을 위한 투쟁에 나서게 된 것이다.

평정심을 잃은 그는 연설 도중 말을 더듬는 듯한 모습까지 보였다. 그럼에도 53%의 득표율로 가까스로 생존했지만, PAP 원로들은 차기 지도자로 손꼽히던 헹을 의심의 눈초리로 바라봤다. 리셴룽 현 총리가 자신의 지역구에서 70% 이상의 득표율로 승리한 것과는 대조적이었다.

더욱 예상치 못한 일이 벌어졌다. 지난 4월 리 총리가 코로나19 사태가 끝날 때까지 자리를 지키겠다고 말을 바꾼 것이다. 이로써 싱가포르 4대 총리 인선 작업은 공중에 붕 떠버렸다.

리 총리의 행보를 지켜본 60세의 헹은 결국 “코로나19 재건과 싱가포르의 차대를 이끌 젊은 지도자가 필요하다”는 말을 남긴 채 차기 총리직을 포기하고 말았다. 비평가들은 “헹이 2019년 11월 한 토론에서도 상대에게 밀려 주춤거리는 듯한 모습을 보인 적이 있었다”며 그의 퇴진에 대해 ‘어리석은 행동’이라 비판했다.

일련의 사건들은 그가 논쟁이 될 만한 사안을 대처하는데 있어 매우 취약하다는 것을 잘 드러냈다. 평상시에는 헹의 유함이 이점이 될 수 있으나, 위급시에 필요한 것은 신속하게 대처할 수 있는 강단이다. 헹에게는 PAP, 그리고 싱가포르를 이끌어갈 리더십이 다소 부족해 보였던 것이다.

그럼에도 행은 부총리로서 “비상사태에 대처해야하는 중대한 시기”라 선언하며 국고를 동원해 코로나19로 피해 받은 이들을 지원할 수 있는 대책들을 강구했다. 헹은 국내외 주요 이슈들에 대해 발언하면서 메스컴에도 종종 등장하지만, 그의 역할은 거기까지다.

한때 싱가포르의 4대 총리 물망에 올랐던 그는 이제 젊은 정치인을 지도하며 후임자를 찾는 일에 나서고 있다. 그럼에도, 헹의 지지자들은 그의 퇴장을 1959년 이래로 이어져왔던 PAP의 강력한 리더십에서 벗어나 정치공학적이고 권위적이지 않은 지도부가 들어서는 계기가 될 것이라 바라보고 있다. 이러한 변화의 흐름은 제1세계 국가들에서 통용되고 있는 민주주의적 관점과도 일맥상통한다.

Tripped in Race To Lead S’pore But Heng Swee Keat Still In Limelight
Ivan Lim

“Good Luck.” That’s what “Heng” means in Singapore’s local dialect. So, once-kampong boy Heng Swee Keat considered it his good fortune that he has had a crack at high office. Not by luck but by the dint of his credentials.

Cambridge and Harvard-educated, the then central bank chief was a star catch for the ruling PAP in the 2011 general election. Though a political newbie at the time, he was appointed education minister and fast-tracked as a core member of the fourth generation (4G) leadership. He went on to helm the finance ministry.

He came under the late founder-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s mentorship when serving as his private principal secretary, earning the then Senior Minister’s high accolades that cast Heng as a rising political star. He was re-elected in the 2015 general election.

But he was almost eclipsed in May 2016 when he suffered a stroke during a Cabinet meeting and went into a coma. Remarkably he regained consciousness in six days. After three months in hospital he recovered fully and resumed his ministerial duties.

Getting into high gear, the Finance Minister articulated three principles that guided his Budgets: Putting people at the centre of the Government’s plans, strategies and programs; planning long term while being adaptive; and “working together.”

He called it the “Singapore way” of “doing more with less”.

In 2017, the search for a successor to PM Lee Hsien Loong, – son of late founder-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew – gathered pace after he spoke of his intention to step down on turning 70 in February 2022.

At the PAP conference in November 2018, Heng’s 4G peers elected him as First Assistant Secretary General, ranking next to Mr Lee, the party Secretary General.

On May 1, 2019, Heng was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, confirming he was course to take over from Lee, who succeeded Goh Chok Tong as third premier in 2004.

On Jan. 23, 2020, Singapore detected its first case of the Coronavirus, that soon turned into a pandemic and triggered the “circuit breaker” lockdown in April-June, marked by curbs on social movements and gatherings, as well closure of non-essential businesses.

Amid Covid-19 movement restrictions, the ruling PAP shrewdly called a general election on July 20 to outflank the Opposition.

Election stumpings were forced indoors and largely done through virtual debates. Missing were the open-air rallies where Opposition parties used to attract bigger crowds than those of the PAP.
For the anointed 4G leader, however, things took an unfortunate turn: Heng faced a fight for his political life when he was surprisingly switched from his stronghold in the Tampines Group Representation Constituency(GRC) to contest in the East Coast GRC.

Losing his poise, he somehow fumbled his lines during a key rally speech on his East Coast Plan for residents and Singapore. In the end, he scraped through the polls with just 53-plus per cent of the popular votes, further diminishing his standing as an up-and-coming leader in the eyes of the PAP Old Guard. In contrast, PM Lee contested in his Ang Mo Kio GRC stronghold and won with a 71-plus percent of the votes.

As fate would have it, the pandemic also tripped up the front-runner in the leadership chase. Setting aside his earlier plan to step down, PM Lee said he would stay on to see the Covid-19 crisis through before handing over the baton. This put the succession timeline up in the air.

As if taking the cue, the 60-year-old Heng on April 8 made a stunning announcement that he was giving up his chance to be the next Prime Minister to a younger man. He said he would have a “short runway” if he were to take over when the pandemic blew over in a few years.

“We need a leader who will not only rebuild Singapore post-COVID-19, but also lead the next phase of our nation,’’ he said.

Some analysts linked Heng’s decision to bow out to an earlier parliamentary goof. During a debate in November 2019, he appeared to stumble in an exchange with Workers’ Party chairperson Sylvia Lim over a motion relating to a High Court judgement on Aljunied-Hougang Town.

That single incident showed him out to be not ready for the cut-and-thrust of political debates. The soft-spoken former police officer was seen as not measuring up to the party’s standard of a captain capable of quick repartee to put any opponent in his or her place.

Thus, prolonged Covid-19 pandemic has proven to be politically disruptive, with unforeseen consequences for ordinating Minister for Economic the republic’s economy and politics.

Rising to the occasion, the former financial wizard declared the pandemic an extraordinary time that called for extraordinary measures. On getting the President’s approval to tap into the national reserves, the former financial czar had tapped into past reserves and crafted an impressive raft of billion-dollar budgets in two years, giving cash infusions for businesses, workers and households to stay afloat as the battered economy sank into a recession.

Carrying labels such s United, Solidarity, Resilience and Fortitude, the emergency fiscal packages were designed to rally the people to remain steadfast and transit towards the post-pandemic era. But alas, he would not be in the saddle to see the measures through.

However, Heng might be down but not out. To be sure, he was taken off his finance post but stays on as Deputy Prime Minster and Co-Policies.

The former front-runner has now been entrusted to mentor the younger members and help identify a first-among-equals and a prospective Prime Minister-designate before the next general election is called by 2025.

He is still very much in the news, making significant policy speeches on major domestic and international issues.

Nevertheless, Heng loyalists saw his exit as an opportunity lost for a technocratic and non-authoritarian leadership to gain acceptance instead of the strong-man model in vogue since PAP took power in1959. Such a change will be seen as in keeping with a First-World nation and prevailing democratic convention.