Lee, 52, replaces Goh Chok Tong - who acknowledged last year that handing power to the son of founding father Lee Kuan Yew may appear to be a dynastic succession, but insisted it wasn’t.

“Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong will relinquish his office on 12 August 2004,” the office said in a statement.

The brief statement said Goh would formally advise President S.R. Nathan to appoint Lee, who “has the unanimous support of People’s Action Party” lawmakers. The ruling party controls 82 of the 84 seats in Parliament.

The Cambridge- and Harvard-educated Lee, a former army brigadier general, currently holds the portfolios of finance minister, central bank chairman and deputy prime minister.

It was not immediately clear whether he would retain those posts.

Many political analysts say Goh represents a more liberal wing of the People’s Action Party, while Lee is seen as a throwback to the conservative days of his father.

“I know that some Singaporeans are uncomfortable with (Lee Hsien) Loong’s leadership style. Loong’s public persona is that of a no-nonsense, uncompromising and tough minister,” Goh said in announcing his successor in August last year.

“Singaporeans would like Loong to be more approachable. They’ve got used to my gentler style,” he said of his 14 years as prime minister.

Since that statement, the city-state’s future leader has had a more prominent public role, appearing frequently in local newspapers and state-owned TV in an apparent move to show a softer side to the 4 million inhabitants of the tightly controlled country.