Presidential elections in Singapore, in which the president of Singapore is directly elected by a popular vote, were introduced after a constitutional amendment made in 1991. Potential candidates for office must meet stringent qualifications set out in the Constitution. Certificates of Eligibility are issued by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC). In particular, the PEC must assess that they are persons of integrity, good character and reputation; and if they have not previously held certain key government appointments or were the chief executives of profitable companies with shareholders' equity of an average of S$500 million for the most recent three years in that office, they must demonstrate to the PEC that they held a position of comparable seniority and responsibility in the public or private sector that has given them experience and ability in administering and managing financial affairs.
The general strictness of the qualifications has resulted in three out of the six presidential elections being walkovers, as presidents S. R. Nathan and Halimah Yacob were the sole candidates to receive a Certificate of Eligibility from the PEC in the 1999, 2005 and 2017 presidential elections. The stringent criteria, the transparency of the PEC's decision-making process and the practice of political parties endorsing candidates have drawn criticism.
Another constitutional amendment was made in 2016, that allows for a presidential election to be reserved for an ethnic community in Singapore if no one from that community had been president for the previous five presidential terms. The ethnic communities in Singapore are categorised into: the Chinese community; the Malay community; and the Indian or other minority communities. Candidates are required to satisfy the usual qualification criteria. The 2017 presidential election was the first reserved election, and was reserved for the Malay community.
The office of president falls vacant upon the expiry of the incumbent's six-year term or if the president is for some reason unable to complete his or her term; for example, due to death (Yusof Ishak and Benjamin Sheares), resignation (Devan Nair) or removal from office for misconduct or mental or physical infirmity, which has yet to happen. If the office of president becomes vacant before the incumbent's term expires, a poll for an election must be held within six months. In other cases, an election can take place any time from three months before the expiry of the incumbent's term of office.
The procedure for elections is laid out in the . The process begins when the prime minister issues a writ of election to the returning officer specifying the date and place of nomination day. Potential candidates must obtain Certificates of Eligibility from the PEC, in most cases community certificates from the Community Committee, and political donation certificates from the Registrar of Political Donations stating that they have complied with the . These documents must be submitted together with a nomination paper to the returning officer on nomination day. In addition, by that day, potential candidates must pay a deposit to the returning officer. When only one candidate is nominated, that candidate is declared to have been elected president. Otherwise, the returning officer issues a notice of contested election specifying when polling day will be.
During the election period, a candidate may not spend more than $600,000 or 30 cents for each person on the electoral register, whichever is greater. Candidates may publish election advertising on the Internet, and participate in scheduled television and radio broadcasts. Permits must be obtained to hold election meetings and display posters and banners. A number of acts are unlawful, including bribery, dissuading electors from voting, making false statements about candidates, treating and undue influence. It is also a criminal offence to publish election surveys, and exit polls on polling day before the polls have closed. Legal changes introduced in 2010 made the eve of polling day a "cooling-off day"—campaigning must not take place on that day or on polling day itself.
The elected president scheme The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Republic of Singapore., Article 17(1). The president was originally indirectly elected by Parliament, Art. 17(1). and had a largely ceremonial role. The Elected President scheme was instituted in 1991 through a constitutional amendment,Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Act 1991 (No. 5 of 1991), in force on 30 November 1991 except for sections 7 and 16 which came into force on 1 February 1991 and s. 3 which was not brought into force and was subsequently repealed by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Act 1996 (No. 41 of 1996). which transformed the office of President into one directly elected by the people. The scheme conferred additional powers on the president that enabled them to act as a safeguard or "second key" over Singapore's rich financial reserves built up by the Government.. Additionally, the president exercises a custodial role over the integrity of the public service. with the power to veto public appointments and check against abuses of power by the government.Thio, "The Elected President", p. 109.
In practice, however, the president's role remains mostly ceremonial. In most cases, the Constitution requires the president to exercise his or her powers on the advice of the Cabinet or a minister acting under the Cabinet's general authority.
Qualifications The qualifications required for a person to be elected as president are set out in the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore and are as follows:
Must be a citizen of Singapore.Constitution, Art. 19(2)(a). Must not be less than 45 years of age.Constitution, Art. 19(2)(b). Must appear in a current register of electors.Constitution, Art. 19(2)(c) read with Art. 44(2)(c). 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.Constitution, Art. 19(2)(c) read with Art. 44(2)(d). Must not be subject to any of the following disqualifications:Constitution, Art. 19(2)(d) read with Art. 45. (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 in Singapore or elsewhere and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than S$10,000 and having not received a free pardon, except that where the conviction is by a foreign court, the offence is also one which, had it been committed in Singapore, would have been punishable by a court in Singapore;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: Constitution, Art. 45(2). (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;A person shall not be disqualified under this clause by reason only of anything done by him before he became a citizen of Singapore: Constitution, Art. 45(2). In clause (f), "foreign country" does not include any part of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland: Art. 45(3). (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. Must be a person of integrity, good character and reputation.Constitution, Art. 19(2)(e). Must not be a member of any political party on the date of his or her nomination for election.Constitution, Art. 19(2)(f). Must satisfy either the public sector or private sector service requirement introduced on 1 April 2017:By the , in force on 1 April 2017. Public sector requirement. The person must have held office: (a) as Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Auditor-General, Accountant-General or Permanent Secretary;Constitution, Art. 19(3)(a). (b) as the chief executiveChief executive is defined by the Constitution, Art. 19(10) as "the most senior executive (however named) in [an] entity or organisation, who is principally responsible for the management and conduct of the entity's or organization's business and operations". of a key statutory board or government company: the Central Provident Fund Board, the Housing and Development Board, the Jurong Town Corporation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, GIC, or Temasek Holdings;Constitution, Art. 19(3)(b) read with the Fifth Schedule. (c) in some other public sector office, and the Presidential Elections Committee ("PEC") "is satisfied, having regard to the nature of the office and the person's performance in the office, that the person has experience and ability that is comparable to the experience and ability of a person who satisfies paragraph (a) or (b)", and "that the person has the experience and ability to effectively carry out the functions and duties of the office of President".Constitution, Art. 19(3)(c). Paragraphs (a) and (b) above have been described as the "automatic track", and paragraph (c) as the "deliberative track".. The person must have served in the above capacity for a single period of three or more yearsConstitution, Arts. 19(3)(a), (b) and (c)(i). or for two periods adding up to three or more years,Constitution, Art. 19(3)(d). and the period(s) of service must fall partly or wholly within the 20-year period before the date when a writ of election is issued to initiate the presidential election process.Constitution, Art. 19(2)(g). Private sector requirement. The person must have served in one of the following capacities: (a) As the chief executive of a companyCompany is defined by the Constitution, Art. 19(10), as "a company limited by shares and incorporated or registered in Singapore under the general law relating to companies". with an average of $500 million in shareholders' equityRules relating to how a company's shareholders' equity is to be determined are set out in the , regs. 21–24. for the most recent three years in that office, and which is profitable after taxes.Constitution, Art. 19(4)(a) read with Art. 19(7). Rules relating to how a company's profit after tax is to be determined are set out in the Presidential Elections (Certificate of Eligibility) Regulations, regs. 25–29. If the person is no longer the company's chief executive when the writ of election is issued, the company must not have been subject to any insolvency eventThe meaning of insolvency event is set out in the Presidential Elections (Certificate of Eligibility) Regulations, reg. 32. for three years from the last day of the person's service, or the date of the writ of election, whichever is earlier, assessed on the basis of events happening on or before the writ of election.Constitution, Art. 19(4)(a)(iv).