Mr Lee, the country's first prime minister, said the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) would need to campaign with greater vigour to win the youth vote in coming general elections.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong must call polls by next August. The PAP has swept every national election since self-government was granted to the former British colony in 1959. At present there are only two opposition politicians among the 83 elected MPs.

"You've got a younger population that has not experienced the past, so you have to be more active to get the uncommitted, the undecided and win them over to your side," Mr Lee said in a PAP Web site interview yesterday.

"I think that most of them [young voters] know that they need the PAP government to stand up for Singapore's position, both internationally and to govern the country internally," he said.

"But there is probably a growing desire to have some opposition to pressure the party to make concessions and so on, and to act as a brake on party excesses." The senior minister did not make clear what he meant by excesses.

Although Singapore often ranks as one of Asia's least corrupt and most efficiently run states, many young people are disinterested in politics, in part because of the overwhelming dominance of the PAP.

These days, Mr Lee rarely makes extensive comments on the country's political scene, leaving the bulk of the campaign-style interventions to Mr Goh and members of his cabinet.

Observers noted that Mr Lee opted to use the vehicle of the party Web site in the midst of a debate about greater regulation of the Internet for political ends. The government is amending the Parliamentary Elections Act to establish a framework for what party-political information may be disseminated in cyberspace during elections.

The plan has alarmed opposition politicians. Kevin Liew, president of the Young Democrats, an affiliate of the Singapore Democratic Party, said: "After having effectively muzzled the print and broadcast media, both local and foreign, it is not at all surprising that the PAP is now focusing its attention on the Internet."

Mr Lee said Singapore needed to face up to the potential for regional instability, adjust to the changing international economy and maintain inter-religious harmony.