Application for Presidential Election opens June 13; ELD urges aspiring candidates to use its digital services
The Elections Department at 11 Novena Rise.
SINGAPORE — Aspiring candidates who wish to stand for the upcoming Presidential Election can begin applying for a certificate of eligibility and submit community declarations from Tuesday (June 13), said the Elections Department (ELD).
In a media statement on Monday, the ELD said that prospective candidates who wish to stand for the election can make the applications until the fifth day after the Writ of Election is issued.
President Halimah Yacob’s six-year term in office expires on Sept 13. She announced in late May that she does not intend to stand for re-election.
On Monday, ELD said that prospective candidates must submit their application for a certificate of eligibility to the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC), a six-person committee chaired by the chairman of the Public Service Commission Lee Tzu Yang.
They must also submit community declarations to the Community Committee, even though the upcoming Presidential Election will be open to all. This is unlike the 2017 election that was reserved for ethnic Malays because there had not been a president from the racial group for the five most recent presidential terms.
“This is for the purpose of ascertaining when the next reserved election will be held,” said the ELD.
“If no one from a particular community is elected to the office of the President for the past five terms, the next election shall then be reserved for that community.”
Prospective candidates are encouraged to use digital services at ELD's website to prepare the application form for the certificate of eligibility, as well as to submit their community declaration early, said the department.
TIMELINE FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Previously, media reports have stated that the Presidential Election must be held by Sept 13 but the ELD clarified on Monday the following:
- If the office of the President becomes vacant before President Halimah's term expires on Sept 13, the Presidential Election must be conducted within six months after the office becomes empty
- Otherwise, the polls must be held not more than three months before Sept 13 this year
- This means the upcoming Presidential Election may be held at any time from June 13
- And if it has not been held by the expiration of the term of the incumbent President, or Sept 13, it should be held shortly thereafter
The Elections Department will announce the date, time and place for prospective candidates seeking nomination as candidates.
On Nomination Day, prospective candidates must present their nomination papers and certificates to the returning officer at the nomination centre.
"We are unable to comment further on the timing of the upcoming Presidential Election, as this is a matter for the Prime Minister to decide,” said the Elections Department on Monday in response to media queries.
In 2011, applications for the Presidential Election opened on June 1. The Writ of Election was issued two months later on Aug 3, and Nomination Day was set on Aug 17, 2011.
Polling day was Aug 27, 2011.
For the 2017 Presidential Election, applications opened on June 1.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong then issued the Writ of Election on Aug 28.
Nomination Day was set on Sept 13 that year and polling day on Sept 23, 2017, but Mdm Halimah was declared the President on Nomination Day as there were no other candidates who qualified.
She was sworn in the following day.
Earlier Presidential Elections had been held in the last week of August.
But in 2017, the Government said that it was moving to a September polling date to avoid having the campaign period clash with National Day celebrations, and to provide for a longer time needed to assess prospective candidates.
This also meant that after then President Tony Tan’s six-year term expired on Aug 31, 2017, an Acting President was in office until Mdm Halimah was sworn in on Sept 14.
ELIGIBILITY AND COMMMUNITY DECLARATION
To be certified by the PEC and given the certificate of eligibility, the applicant has to be a person of integrity, good character and reputation, and fulfils the relevant public sector or private sector service requirements.
The PEC comprises:
- Mr Lee Tzu Yang, chairman of the Public Service Commission and chairman of PEC
- Mr Ong Chong Tee, chairman of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority
- Professor Chan Heng Chee, member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, appointed by the chairman of that council
- Dr Chua Thian Poh, member of the Council of Presidential Advisers, appointed by the chairman of that council
- Justice Kannan Ramesh
- Justice Quentin Loh
Applicants will also have to submit community declarations to declare that they consider themselves as a member of the Chinese, Malay, or Indian or Other Minority communities.
“A prospective candidate who does not consider himself to be a member of any of these communities may also state so in his community declaration,” said ELD.
“The Community Committee can either accept the community declaration and issue him a notice of acceptance of his community declaration or invite him to submit another community declaration for one of the communities.”
The Community Committee is chaired by Mr Edward D’Silva, a member of the Public Service Commission, and comprises three sub-committees.
Mr Teo Siong Seng, Mr Mohamed Sa’at Abdul Rahman and Associate Professor Narayanan Ganapathy respectively chair the Chinese, Malay, and Indian and Other Minority sub-committees.
ELD added in its statement on Monday that prospective candidates are encouraged to use the digital services on its website to download the necessary forms.
Since Mdm Halimah announced her decision not to stand for re-election, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has made public his intention to retire from politics and contest in the Presidential Election.
No other individuals have stepped forward to announce their plans to contest for the highest office, but some political observers have eyed Harvey Norman Ossia's founder George Goh as a potential aspiring candidate.
Mr Lee Hsien Yang, brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, had told news media outlet Bloomberg in March this year that he was considering running for the Elected Presidency.
However, lawyers had previously told TODAY that Mr Lee is unlikely to qualify as a candidate due to earlier court findings of him and his wife having lied under oath in judicial proceedings.
