Singapore’s former Indian-origin minister submits application to qualify for presidential election

Singapore’s Indian-origin former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Monday submitted his application for eligibility to contest the upcoming presidential election due next month.

Shanmugaratnam, 66, formally launched his presidential campaign last month with a pledge to evolve the country's culture to keep it a 'shining spot' in the world.

The 2023 presidential election is due in September, as President Halimah Yacob’s six-year term ends on September 13.

Tharman, 66, has submitted his application for a certificate of eligibility, The Straits Times reported.

Apart from Shanmugaratnam, three other potential hopefuls, all of Chinese origin, have announced their own submissions.

Former GIC investment chief Ng Kok Song, 75, told the media that he had submitted the forms on August 2 to be considered eligible via the public sector deliberative track.

Entrepreneur George Goh, 63, submitted his eligibility form on August 4.

Former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian, 75, said he has submitted his application for a certificate of eligibility for the upcoming presidential election but has not decided if he will contest, according to The Straits Times report.

Tharman, who stepped down from active politics after 22 years in June, during his campaign launch, had cautioned against judging candidates based on past affiliations rather than their track record.

Singapore has stringent criteria for candidates wishing to stand for the post of President.

Under requirements laid out in Singapore's Constitution, public sector presidential candidates must have held office for at least three years as a minister, chief justice, attorney-general or other high-level posts.

Private sector candidates must have served for at least three years as chief executives of a company with an average of Singapore dollars 500 million in shareholders' equity.

Tharman was an economist and a civil servant, mainly at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, before joining politics in 2001.

He has served as the Minister for Education and Finance and was the Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2019. He has also held prominent posts at international organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Economic Forum and the United Nations.

Singapore will hold its first presidential election since 2011 after President Halimah announced on May 29 that she will not seek a second term.

She is the country's eighth and first female president. Her six-year term ends on September 13 this year.

The 2017 presidential poll was a reserved election in which only members of the Malay community were allowed to contest. Halimah was named president then as there were no other candidates.