Who is the new Singapore’s President?

Former vice-premier Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, got 70.4 percent of the vote

Article by Tommaso Magrini

Singapore’s presidential elections took place on Friday 1st September. over 2.5 million Singaporeans went to the polls at 1,264 polling stations across the island. According to the final results, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, garnered 70.4 % of the vote, while his fellow candidates Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian, both 75, obtained 15.72% and 13,88%. The margin by which the former deputy Premier Tharman won, was surprising and unexpected to some analysts, given the recent scandals that have plagued the People’s Action Party (PAP) in recent weeks and which, they argued, could have invalidated his candidacy. this was not the case. The winner has a deep relationship with the party that has always dominated the city-state scene. If the election was seen as a barometer of public sentiment, then the PAP has confirmed its grip. Tharman was a popular politician, having won several parliamentary election victories, including the largest margin of votes in the 2020 general election as a member of the PAP. Tharman resigned from the party and his government posts in July to run for president after 22 years in politics. The President’s role is largely ceremonial in Singapore, although the office is supposed to provide checks and balances on the government. The President has veto powers over any specific budget or transaction that may draw on the national ‘grand reserves’. The president can also veto the appointment or removal of key public officials and instruct the anti-fraud office to investigate specific cases even when the Prime Minister disagrees. Premier Lee Hsien Loong said he called Tharman to congratulate him. “I assured him of my government’s full cooperation”