2023-09-01 18:43:32
Tharman Shanmugaratnam gets around 70 percent of the votes cast.
Former Vice Prime Minister and Central Bank Governor Tharman Shanmugaratnam has won the Singapore presidential election. The electoral authority declared the 66-year-old the winner on Friday with 70.4 percent of the votes cast. For the first time in more than a decade, voters could choose between several candidates in a presidential election. Shanmugaratnam prevailed against two opposing candidates, replacing incumbent Halimah Yacob.
“I believe this is a vote of confidence in Singapore,” Shanmugaratnam said in a speech before the results were announced. “It’s a vote of optimism for a future where we can move forward together.” Voting was mandatory for the country’s more than 2.7 million eligible voters. Long, well-ordered queues had formed at the polling stations.
Shanmugaratnam entered the presidential race as a favorite. As required by law, the longtime supporter of the ruling PAP party resigned from the party before running for office. The 66-year-old was seen as a government-backed candidate whose independence was questioned during the election campaign. The PAP has ruled the Asian city-state continuously since 1959.
High demands
While the President’s role is largely representative, there are strict requirements. Applicants must have worked either as a high-ranking civil servant or as the head of a company with the equivalent of at least 341 million euros in equity. Singapore’s president can veto appointments to key public positions and authorize corruption investigations, even against the will of the prime minister. The head of state is also the guardian of Singapore’s reserves, which can only be accessed in exceptional cases such as the corona pandemic or the global financial crisis in 2009.
The PAP has recently been involved in a number of political scandals, including a corruption probe into the transport minister. Such affairs are rare in the city-state, which attracts foreign investment with a reputation for clean government. In the 2020 general election, the PAP had its worst result in its history, but maintained its two-thirds majority.
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