POLITICS : Singapore’s Transition Is Unclear : The former leader’s son has cancer. The prime minister has resigned his Parliament seat to run again in what will be a vote on his tenure.

Despite the Singapore government’s efforts to ensure a smooth transition to a younger generation of political leaders, illness has dramatically intervened and left the future shape of the government unclear.

The uncertainty was reflected in the decision by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to resign his own seat in Parliament and call a local election for Saturday, which will become, in effect, a referendum on his handling of the top job.

While there seemed little chance that Goh and the ruling People’s Action Party will lose the election, a further slippage in the party’s standing after a setback in the 1991 general election could seriously undermine Goh’s prestige.

Goh took over as prime minister in 1990 from Lee Kuan Yew, who had ruled Singapore with an authoritarian hand for 31 years. Lee, who now carries the title senior minister, continues to wield substantial power, although leaving the details of day-to-day affairs to Goh and his colleagues.

Following Lee’s retirement, many Singaporeans raised in the Confucian tradition of family values believed that he was preparing the way for his son, Lee Hsein Loong, to eventually take over.

The son--widely known as B. G. Lee because he is a retired brigadier general--has been the first deputy prime minister and minister of trade and industry, a key job in this trading nation.

But in November, the government announced that the younger Lee, who is 40 years old, is suffering from lymphatic cancer.

While doctors said there was an excellent chance that the younger Lee would recover from the illness, the announcement sent political planners back to the drawing boards. “Obviously, any thought of transferring power to Lee the son will have to be shelved,” said one diplomat.

The younger Lee has started chemotherapy treatments and has been replaced as minister of trade and industry by Suppiah Dhanabalan, who left the National Development Ministry only three months ago.

“The people of Singapore cannot possibly count on one man’s life to decide their own fate,” the younger Lee said after he was hospitalized. “Therefore, we must look for more successors.”

Goh, who is 51, has said that he is calling the election in his own voting district, which has four seats in Parliament, to bring about a “political self-renewal” to the country, which has been ruled by the People’s Action Party since independence. The party holds an overwhelming 77-seat majority in the 81-seat Parliament.

Goh indicated that if he loses his seat in the election, he will resign as prime minister. Since the official party won 77% of the vote in Goh’s constituency in 1991, his seat in Parliament does not appear seriously threatened.

But in the 1988 election, the party suffered a two-point dip in its popularity, which Goh himself said reflected poorly on his efforts to bring a “gentler, kinder” form of government to Singapore.

Political analysts believe that Goh’s political prospects may have improved in the last few weeks as the voters realize that there is now no clear successor waiting in the wings to step in if Goh stumbles at the polls.

So far, the usually outspoken Lee Kuan Yew has not commented publicly on the election or on his son’s illness. As always, Singaporeans are expecting the elder Lee to have the last word on the country’s political dilemma.