George Goh says Presidential Elections Committee took 'very narrow interpretation' of requirements in rejecting his application

SINGAPORE: The Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) rejected businessman George Goh’s argument that his experience in managing five of his companies was equivalent to that of a CEO running a single company, said the former presidential hopeful's team on Friday (Aug 18).

Mr Goh’s legal and financial team submitted “a very strong case detailing my experience and performance managing five companies which met the shareholders’ equity and profitability criteria”, according to a media statement by his team.

It added that Mr Goh was “the most senior executive in each of these companies”.

“(The committee) took a very narrow interpretation of the requirements without explaining the rationale behind its decision,” said the statement. 

The three candidates who qualified to run for the presidency were announced by the Elections Department (ELD) on Friday. They are former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song, former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian and former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. 

Mr Goh, the founder of Harvey Norman Ossia, was unsuccessful in his application for a certificate of eligibility. 

The certificate of eligibility certifies that the candidate is a person of integrity, good character and reputation, and meets the relevant public sector or private sector service requirements.

"I CANNOT ACCEPT THE DECISION" 

Asked about his response to the PEC's decision, Mr Goh told reporters on Friday that “it is a very sad day” but he has no regrets about having thrown his hat into the ring. 

He added that he had "a group of advisors" comprising "top people in Singapore" which gave him confidence that he would qualify. 

"Are you saying they're all wrong? Cannot be. They're all from the system," he said during a press conference held at his house on Friday afternoon. "I cannot accept the decision given by them. I personally think it's not a fair decision." 

ELD said on Friday that it will not publish the reasons for PEC's decision given to unsuccessful applicants, along with the names of the applicants, due to concerns that potential applicants may be dissuaded from stepping forward to contest the elections for "fear of embarrassment". 

However, unsuccessful applicants are allowed to publish the committee's reasons provided to them, the department added.

The PEC on Friday night rejected Mr Goh's claims that it failed to explain the rationale behind its decision not to issue him with a certificate of eligibility.

It decided to make public its letter to the businessman, in which the committee pointed out that the Constitution requires it to consider whether an applicant has the experience and ability that comes from managing one very large private sector organisation.

"The experience and ability that comes from managing multiple smaller private sector organisations is not equivalent to this," the PEC said in a press release.

"Mr Goh’s application acknowledged that the five companies he relied on are not a unitary company and are not owned by a common holding company, but Mr Goh submitted that the five companies should be regarded as a single private sector organisation."

The committee said it carefully considered Mr Goh's submission.

"However, after taking into account the relevant facts and circumstances (including how the companies were owned, managed and operated), the committee was not satisfied that the five companies constituted a single private sector organisation," the PEC said.

There had been questions about whether Mr Goh would meet the eligibility criteria since he announced his intention to run on Jun 12, but he has repeatedly said he is confident of qualifying under the private sector "deliberative track". 

At a press conference on Aug 4 to launch his bid, he said he has a group of five companies with a combined shareholders’ equity of S$1.521 billion (US$1.12 billion) over three years, adding that this is collectively equivalent to an average shareholders’ equity of S$507 million annually for the group as a whole.

But analysts have previously said it is unclear if a candidate can combine the average shareholder equity of several companies to meet the criterion.

Mr Goh on Friday added that he doesn't think he has let his supporters down. "The decision-makers (let) the supporters down. They’re not prepared for one time for change,” he told reporters. 

HOPES MORE PRIVATE SECTOR CANDIDATES WILL RUN 

Mr Goh on Friday again stressed that he had been the only contender who was "very independent".

He was responding to presidential hopeful Mr Tan's remarks earlier on Friday that he will likely get "majority of those votes of people who want an independent president" now that Mr Goh is no longer in the running. 

Over the past week, the two appeared to have crossed swords. Mr Tan said in the event that both of them qualify as candidates, he would speak to Mr Goh to decide who should step down and support the other "non-establishment" candidate. But Mr Goh clarified that they don't have an agreement. 

Since Mr Goh announced his intention to run for the presidency, he has consistently pointed to his lack of political ties as an advantage. He has previously described an "independent" candidate as one who is not from any political party, not on the board of any government-linked company, and not involved in Citizens’ Consultative Committees. 

“I’m not sure the other three candidates can stand and say they’re very independent. You must prove yourself you’re really independent. If you’re not independent (and) you say you’re independent, it’s very sad right?" he said on Friday.

"You must be very clear. You cannot be in the same party or same policymaker. You cannot be in the same box. If you’re in the box and jump out and say you’re independent tomorrow, cannot. That is not correct. So I hope maybe they can rephrase themselves; change another ... tactic to win the elections.”

Mr Goh said that "they know if I go into the Istana ... I'm going to look at the thing differently" but declined to specify who he was referring to. "This is why the result is like that.”

The 63-year-old entrepreneur added that he doesn't think his failure to qualify for the Presidential Election will put off future presidential hopefuls from the private sector, and encouraged more entrepreneurs to come forward during the next election. 

"I think more private sector people will come forward. They have seen what George has done and ... (say) I believe (it's) possible, I can run the campaign as good as George. I would like to encourage the private sector don't give up the (certificate of eligibility)," he said. 

"If we don't stand up, you must think about your children ... The independent candidate, please come forward stronger, don't show our weakness. If we show our weakness, that means our democracy (has) failed." 

Of the four known presidential contenders, Mr Tharman was the first to announce his bid for presidency on Jun 8. Mr Goh and Mr Ng subsequently announced their bids on Jun 12 and Jul 19, respectively. Mr Tan officially launched his bid on Aug 11.

The PEC received a total of six applications for the certificate of eligibility by Thursday's deadline, said ELD on Thursday in its press release. 

Mr Tharman applied under the public sector service track, while Mr Ng applied under the public sector deliberative track. Mr Tan meanwhile applied under the private sector deliberative track.

The next step for Mr Ng, Mr Tan and Mr Tharman is to be nominated as candidates. They must deliver their nomination papers - along with the certificate of eligibility, community certificate and political donation certificate - on Nomination Day on Aug 22.

If more than one candidate is nominated, Singaporeans will go to the polls on Sep 1, which will be declared a public holiday.