Singaporean presidential election, 2005

Infobox Election
election_name = Singaporean
presidential election, 2005
country = Singapore
type = presidential
ongoing = no
previous_election = Singaporean presidential election, 1999
previous_year = 1999
next_election = Singaporean presidential election, 2011
next_year = 2011
election_date = August 17, 2005


nominee1 = S.R. Nathan
popular_vote1 = Unopposed
title = President
before_election = S.R. Nathan
after_election = S.R. Nathan
before_party = None
after_party = NoneThe Singapore presidential election of 2005 was to have been held on 27 August, 2005 to elect the President of Singapore. August 17, 2005, was designated Nomination Day. It was to have been the first contested presidential election since 1993 [http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=2626] .

On August 13, 2005, the Presidential Elections Committee announced that the incumbent S. R. Nathan was granted a Certificate of Eligibility, but rejected the other candidates due to lack of sufficient experience. S. R. Nathan was declared duly elected on Nomination Day, August 17, 2005, since he was the only person nominated. The election never actually took place.

President Nathan's first term was scheduled to end on August 31, 2005. 21 application forms for the Certificate of Eligibility required to contest were collected, and four forms were submitted:

* S R Nathan, President of the Republic of Singapore (incumbent)
* Kuan Yoke Loon Andrew, former chief financial officer of Jurong Town Corporation.
* Ooi Boon Ewe, real estate executive. He is a former bankrupt and was disqualified from standing the previous elections [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/161558/1/.html]
* Ramachandran Govindasamy Naidu

Eligibility screening

The Presidential Elections Committee was responsible for determining the eligibility of the candidates. The committee consisted of:
* Andrew Chew Guan Khuan, Chairman of the Public Service Commission
* Lim Siong Guan, Chairman of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority
* H R Hochstadt, a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights.

The Returning Officer had the responsibility of declaring the single qualifying candidate as the elected President. The Returning Officer is Tan Boon Huat who was the Chief Executive Director of the People's Association. [http://app.sprinter.gov.sg/data/pr/20050803982.pdf]

Andrew Kuan

From the time Andrew Kuan announced his intention to stand as a candidate, he was lambasted by members of the ruling party as well as by the state-controlled media [http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=2626] due to his not being endorsed by the ruling party [http://www.littlespeck.com/content/politics/CTrendsPolitics-050815.htm] .

On 2005-08-09, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called for all candidates to be open about their records, so that Singaporeans could make an informed judgment on them. He also encouraged Andrew Kuan's former employers to come forward, speak freely and tell Singaporeans what they knew about him. [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/162289/1/.html]

On 2005-08-11, Kuan's former employer, the government-linked JTC Corporation called a news conference to provide details on the circumstances leading to Kuan's resignation in July 2004. Chong Lit Cheong, chief executive officer of JTC Corporation said that Andrew Kuan's work at JTC had been unsatisfactory since his first year there and he had been asked to resign twice in 2003 and 2004. No details as to how his work was unsatisfactory were provided, other than a note that no fraud or other crime was involved, and he needed "quite a fair bit of hand holding". In reply, Kuan noted that he had worked at JTC Corporation for 37 months, which had extended his contract several times, and he had been given performance bonuses and a raise during this period. [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/162697/1/.html] . Another company, Hyflux, also publicly criticised Kuan [http://www.littlespeck.com/content/politics/CTrendsPolitics-050815.htm] .

There were speculation that the PAP government was not prepared for the election and thus was trying to undermine Mr. Andrew Kuan. [http://www.newsintercom.org/index.php?itemid=352]

Later, Andrew Kuan was disqualified by the Presidential Elections Committee for failing to meet the criteria for running for president. The committee said Kuan's seniority and responsibility as JTC's Group Chief Financial Officer were not comparable to those required by the Constitution. A presidential candidate is required to have had experience as the chairman or CEO of a statutory board, or of a company with a paid-up capital of at least $100 million (Singaporean dollars).

The incumbent Mr. Nathan, seen as part of the establishment and expected to be accommodating towards the policies and decisions of the ruling PAP party, was returned as President without a contest.

Results

Media coverage and public opinion

The unopposed nature of President Nathan's candidacy has sparked debates in Singapore about the country's political system, where no candidate was judged eligible to run against a candidate endorsed by the People's Action Party (PAP) government. However, there was little media coverage given to this debate and no polls been conducted on the public opinion regarding this matter.

On the other hand, there are consistent endorsement of Presidential Elections Committee's decision by political, trade union and business organisations. There are little media coverage on opposing views or interviews with rejected candidates.

A factor contributing to the lack of eligible candidate is the stringent requirement placed on the person who can be elected as President, as spelled out in the Constitution of Singapore. There are only a few hundred people in the country who can be qualified and many of whom are in the rank-and-file of the People's Action Party and therefore unlikely to challenge the candidate endorsed by the PAP.

President Nathan's unchallenged return to the Presidency underscores that although the policy of Elected Presidency was introduced by the government in 1991 as a watchdog of the government and a custodian of national reserves, the position is opened only to a small group of people in the country.

A portion of populace felt that the presidency had been undermined as an institution. This is reflect by the online discussion amongst Singaporean bloggers [http://www.newsintercom.org/index.php?itemid=354] [http://commentarysingapore.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_commentarysingapore_archive.html] [http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2005/08/15/no_chance_to_vote.html] and some articles published in Today [http://www.todayonline.com/articles/67424.asp] [http://www.todayonline.com/articles/67164.asp] , a free newspaper. However Singapore's national newspaper, The Straits Times [http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sub/review/story/0,5562,335510-1124488740,00.html?] , and Channel News Asia [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/163027/1/.html] had come out firmly to back Mr Nathan on his re-election as Singapore's President.

External links

* [http://sam11.moe.gov.sg/racialharmony/SecondarySchool/stories_ranaway.html He ran away from home when he was 16] by Zuraidah Ibrahim and Lydia Lim - Ministry of Education.
* [http://app.sprinter.gov.sg/data/pr/20050712-Istana.pdf Release medical report of S R Nathan]
* [http://www.elections.gov.sg/gazette/20050527b.pdf Government Gazette on Presidential Elections Committee] 27 May 2005