Singapore Holds Presidential Election Today. Singaporeans will elect the country ‘s ninth president today, Friday (1/9). This presidential election is an event for prospective candidates from all ethnicities. As reported by The Straits Times , the presidential candidates who will contest are former chief investment officer of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) Ng Kok Song (75), former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam (66), and former head of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) Income Tan Kin Lian (75).
The three of them have been campaigning since they were first announced as candidates on August 22. As head of state, Singapore’s president plays a ceremonial role but also has the authority to oversee the country’s financial reserves and can appoint key officials in the public service.
Quoted from Al Jazeera , this presidential election is different from 2017
because all ethnic groups participated. In previous elections, only ethnic Malays were allowed to run. This election is the result of a constitutional amendment designed to ensure Singapore’s ethnic minorities have the opportunity to be represented at the presidential level. Singapore itself, almost 75 percent of the population is ethnic Chinese.
About 13 percent come from Malays and 9 percent from India. Presidential candidate Tharman is a presidential candidate of Indian descent who recently emerged as the leading candidate. He is a former deputy prime minister and finance minister. The election itself will be opened from 08.00 local time to 20.00 local time. About 2.7 million eligible Singaporeans will be asked to vote for their preferred candidate.
Overseas Singaporeans will also be able to vote by post for the first time
This ballot envelope must have been sent on. Thursday (31/8) yesterday because it had to be postmarked to include it on voting day. Other overseas Singaporeans can also look for polling stations in foreign countries such as those available in Beijing, Canberra, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington.
