President of Singapore

The President of the Republic of Singapore is the nation's head of state. In parliamentary systems like the Westminster system, which Singapore employs, the Prime Minister is the head of the government while the position of President is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President was elected by Parliament, with executive power remaining with the Prime Minister.

The President is a constitutional head of state, with duties similar to those of the British monarch, but constitutional amendments passed in 1991 gave the President new reserve powers. His or her official residence is the Istana.

The office of President was created in 1965 after Singapore became a Republic upon its secession from the Federation of Malaysia that year. It replaced the office of Yang di-Pertuan Negara, which had been created when Singapore gained self-government in 1959. The last Yang di-Pertuan Negara, Yusuf bin Ishak, became the first President. He was replaced by Benjamin Henry Sheares after his death, who served as President until his death in 1981, when he was succeeded by Chengara Veetil Devan Nair. Owing to personal problems, Nair stepped down in 1985 and was replaced by Wee Kim Wee, who served as President until 1993.

In January 1991, the Constitution of Singapore^[1] was amended to provide for the popular election of the President, who would have the power to veto appointments in the civil service and the use of government reserves. The creation of the popularly elected presidency is a major constitutional and political change in Singapore's history as, under the revision, the President is empowered to veto the government's budget and appointments to public office. He can also examine the administration's enforcement of the Internal Security Act and religious harmony laws, and look into investigations of corruption.

The first directly-elected President was Ong Teng Cheong, a former cabinet minister. He served as President from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999. By virtue of transitional provisions in the Singapore Constitution,^[2] although Ong's predecessor Wee Kim Wee was not elected as President, because he held the office of President immediately prior to 30 November 1991 he exercised, performed and discharged all the functions, powers and duties of an elected president as if he had been elected to the office of President by the citizens of Singapore until Ong Teng Cheong took office as President.

In 1996, the government again limited the powers of the president, when it was decided that a presidential veto can be overridden with a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The incumbent President is Sellapan Ramanathan (S.R. Nathan). His first term of office was from 18 August 1999 to 31 August 2005. He was deemed re-elected after a walkover on 17 August 2005, and his current term of office will expire in 2011.

Qualifications

To be qualified to be elected President, a person must satisfy the following requirements:

• He or she must be a citizen of Singapore.^[3]
• He or she must not be less than 45 years of age.^[4]
• His or her name must appear in a current register of electors.^[5]
• He or she must be resident in Singapore at the date of his or her nomination for election and must have been so resident for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than ten years prior to that date.^[6]
• He or she must not be subject to any of the following disqualifications:^[7]

(a) being and having been found or declared to be of unsound mind;

(b) being an undischarged bankrupt;

(c) holding an office of profit;

(d) having been nominated for election to Parliament or the office of President or having acted as election agent to a person so nominated, failing to lodge any return of election expenses required by law within the time and in the manner so required;

(e) having been convicted of an offence by a court of law in Singapore or Malaysia and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than S$2,000 and having not received a free pardon, provided that where the conviction is by a court of law in Malaysia, the person shall not be disqualified unless the offence is also one which, had it been committed in Singapore, would have been punishable by a court of law in Singapore;^[8]

(f) having voluntarily acquired the citizenship of, or exercised rights of citizenship in, a foreign country, or having made a declaration of allegiance to a foreign country;^[9]

(g) being disqualified under any law relating to offences in connection with elections to Parliament or the office of President by reason of having been convicted of such an offence or having in proceedings relating to such an election been proved guilty of an act constituting such an offence.

• He or she must satisfy the Presidential Elections Committee that he or she is a person of integrity, good character and reputation.^[10]
• He or she must not a member of any political party on the date of his or her nomination for election.^[11]
• He or she must have for a period of not less than three years held office —
  • as Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Auditor-General, Accountant-General or Permanent Secretary;^[12]
  • as chairman or chief executive officer of the Central Provident Fund Board, the Housing and Development Board, the Jurong Town Corporation or the Monetary Authority of Singapore;^[13]
  • as chairman of the board of directors or chief executive officer of a company incorporated or registered under the Companies Act^[14] with a paid-up capital of at least S$100 million or its equivalent in foreign currency;^[15] or
  • in any other similar or comparable position of seniority and responsibility in any other organization or department of equivalent size or complexity in the public or private sector which, in the opinion of the Presidential Elections Committee, has given him or her such experience and ability in administering and managing financial affairs as to enable him or her to carry out effectively the functions and duties of the office of President.^[16]

Disabilities

Once elected, the President shall —

• not hold any other office created or recognized by the Singapore Constitution;
• not actively engage in any commercial enterprise;
• not be a member of any political party; and
• if he or she is a member of Parliament, vacate his or her seat in Parliament.^[17]

Term of office

The President holds office for a term of six years from the date on which he assumes office.

The person elected to the office of President assumes office on the day his or her predecessor ceases to hold office or, if the office is vacant, on the day following his or her election.

Upon his or her assumption of office, the President is required to take and subscribe in the presence of the Chief Justice or of another Justice of the Supreme Court the Oath of Office, which states:

I, [name], having been elected President of the Republic of Singapore, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge my duties as such to be best of my ability without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and without regard to any previous affiliation with any political party, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic, and that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore.^[18]

Maintenance: The Civil List

The Legislature of Singapore is required to provide a Civil List for the maintenance of the President,^[19] and it does so by way of the Civil List and Pension Act.^[20] For the fiscal year 2006, the President's personal pay, known by the British term the 'privy purse', is S$2,661,700, an increase from the previous figure of S$2,507,200, while his entertainment allowance is S$132,000, up from S$117,000. The amount set aside for expenses at the Istana is S$1,301,500, up from S$1,108,500. Minister of State (Finance) Lim Hwee Hua told Parliament on 23 January 2007 that the increases were "in view of higher bonuses and higher expenditure on utilities".

Expenditure on personal staff and special services has been lowered by S$8,800 for personal staff and by S$28,300 for special services such as the purchase of cars and office equipment.^[21]

Latest election

The election of 2005, just like that of 1999, did not take place. After the government-appointed Presidential Elections Committee had disqualified all other contestants, Sellapan Ramanathan was declared president.

 bar:Leaders color:red width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S

 from:start till:1970 shift:($dx,5)   text:Yusuf~Ishak
 from:1970  till:1981 shift:($dx,5)    text:Benjamin~Sheares
 from:1981  till:1985 shift:($dx,3)    text:C.V.~Devan Nair
 from:1985  till:1993 shift:($dx,5)    text:Wee~Kim Wee
 from:1993  till:1999 shift:($dx,5)  text:Ong~Teng Cheong
 from:1999  till:end  shift:($dx,4)    text:S.R.~Nathan

List of Presidents of the Republic of Singapore

1. 1965-1970: Encik Yusof bin Ishak (1910-1970)
2. 1970-1981: Benjamin Henry Sheares (1907-1981)
3. 1981-1985: C.V. Devan Nair (1923-2005)
4. 1985-1993: Wee Kim Wee (1915-2005)
5. 1993-1999: Ong Teng Cheong (1936-2002)
6. From 1999: Sellapan Ramanathan (born 1924, became President unchallenged in 1999, and again in 2005 after other candidates failed to receive the Certificate of Eligibility to stand for elections.)

Presidential portrait gallery

Yusof bin Ishak	Benjamin Henry Sheares	C.V. Devan Nair	Wee Kim Wee
Ong Teng Cheong	Sellapan Ramanathan

Notes

1. ^ Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (1999 Reprint).
2. ^ Id., Art. 163(1).
3. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(a).
4. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(b).
5. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(c) read with Art. 44(2)(c).
6. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(c) read with Art. 44(2)(d).
7. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(d) read with Art. 45.
8. ^ The disqualification of a person under clauses (d) and (e) may be removed by the President and shall, if not so removed, cease at the end of five years beginning from the date on which the return mentioned in clause (d) was required to be lodged or, as the case may be, the date on which the person convicted as mentioned in clause (e) was released from custody or the date on which the fine mentioned in clause (1) (e) was imposed on such person: id., Art. 45(2).
9. ^ A person shall not be disqualified under this clause by reason only of anything done by him or her before he or she became a citizen of Singapore: Id., Art. 45(2). In clause (f), "foreign country" does not include any part of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland: Art. 45(3).
10. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(e).
11. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(f).
12. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(g)(i).
13. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(g)(ii) read with Art. 22A(3) and Pt. I of the Fifth Schedule.
14. ^ Cap. 50, 2006 Rev. Ed. (S'pore).
15. ^ Singapore Constitution, op. cit., Art. 19(2)(g)(iii).
16. ^ Id., Art. 19(2)(g)(iv).
17. ^ Id., Arts. 19(3)(a)–(d).
18. ^ Id., Arts. 20(1)–20(3) and the First Schedule.
19. ^ Id., Art. 22J(1).
20. ^ Cap. 44, 2002 Rev. Ed. (S'pore).
21. ^ Derrick A. Paulo, "Parliament Raises President's Pay", Today (24 January 2007).

Further reading

• Tan, Kevin Y.L. (Yew Lee); Lam Peng Er (eds.) (1997). Managing Political Change in Singapore : The Elected Presidency. Singapore: Routledge. ISBN 0415156327. 

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