A referendum on the People's Action Party?, Singaporean vote for president, with Lee Hsien Loong battling and scandal looming over the election | candidate | president

Today, Singapore is voting for the first time in 12 years to elect a president.

Three candidates - former State Councilor Shang Daman, former Chief Investment Officer of the Singapore Government Investment Corporation Huang Guosong, and former President Chen Qinliang - are competing for the ninth presidential throne. Their fate is in the hands of over 2.7 million voters. The preliminary results are expected to be announced tonight at 10 o'clock.

Due to the fact that the President of Singapore is seen as a vacant head of state, the six-year presidential election is relatively less important and less focused than the five-year national election that determines the ownership of power.

However, this presidential election is somewhat special, coinciding with a crucial period of government change and the scandal surrounding the ruling People's Action Party.

Therefore, Friday's vote is also seen as a referendum on the People's Action Party and a litmus test of public opinion before the handover.

A virtual president also has great power

The term of office of the President of Singapore is 6 years, elected directly by citizens aged 21 and above through universal suffrage. Current President Halima has been in office for 6 years and is about to step down.

In the design of Singapore's political system, the President is largely a ceremonial and symbolic head of state without administrative functions and does not belong to any political party. However, the President is the highest representative of the entire country internationally and also has a certain say in utilizing the country's foreign exchange reserves, appointing senior positions in the public sector, and approving anti-corruption investigations.

Among them, the power to veto the government's use of reserves is considered the most valuable power of the President of Singapore. Therefore, the presidency is also considered the "second key" to preserving reserves.

In the understanding of some Singaporeans, the President has regulatory authority over reserves, which also means he can influence fiscal and monetary policy decisions.

Because of holding the key to the treasury, the threshold for becoming a presidential candidate is also very high.

In addition to basic requirements, candidates need to hold public positions such as government ministers and senior civil servants for at least 3 years. Candidates from private enterprises are required to have served as the top management personnel in a company with an average shareholder equity of SGD 500 million, and must make the company profitable within their first three years of employment.

Generally speaking, the level of attention paid to presidential elections is not as high as the five-year congressional elections, which will determine the ownership of power. However, due to the President's authority to intervene in key matters such as reserve fund regulation and important personnel appointments, people also care about who can be elected President. Especially in the special context of this year, this election has attracted more attention compared to the past.

An important background is that this year's election has seen multiple "firsts" in 12 years: the first presidential election, the first multiple candidates entering the field, and the first competition between Chinese and non Chinese candidates.

Since direct presidential elections began in 1993, Singapore has elected a president every six years.

The last presidential election was in 2011, which was considered the most intense. At that time, former Vice Premier Chen Qingyan won by a narrow margin among four candidates.

In the 2017 general election, as Singapore had not had a president from the Malay ethnic group for 30 years, according to the revised constitution, the number of presidential candidates must be reserved for the Malay ethnic group. Therefore, former Speaker of the National Assembly, Halima, became the only candidate and was automatically elected as the eighth President, as well as Singapore's first female President.

Another major background is that this presidential election coincides with a critical period of government change in Singapore. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently publicly announced that he will hand over the baton to the next governing team led by First Deputy Prime Minister Huang Xuncai, which will also be the fourth generation leadership team in Singapore.

At the same time, a series of recent political scandals, including the investigation of the Minister of Transportation for corruption, the resignation of former Speaker of the National Assembly, members of the People's Action Party, and female members of the party due to extramarital affairs, have had an impact on the integrity and stable style of the ruling party, the People's Action Party.

Therefore, Friday's vote is also seen as a referendum on the People's Action Party, especially a test of its support before the 2025 national elections.

It is reported that the voting will start at 8:00 am on September 1st and end at 8:00 am on the same day. It is expected that the sampling vote results will be announced about two hours after the voting ends. If the number of votes received by the top ranked candidates differs by 2% or less, the vote will be recalculated.

An analysis suggests that Singapore's election, which has always been known for its predictability, may bring interesting events this year. Due to the pressure on the People's Action Party, as a new generation of voters move towards the ballot box, there may be a rare scene of voting in protest during the election.

Who will win the Triwizard Tournament?

Unlike the solo performance in the previous election, this election is a three strong competition.

The President will be selected from three candidates, namely Shang Daman, Huang Guosong, and Chen Qinliang.

At the age of 66, known as the "vote king", Shandaman comes from an Indian ethnic group. He has been deeply involved in the People's Action Party for more than 20 years, has deep political experience, and has a wide network. He has held important positions such as State Councilor, Vice Premier, Minister of Finance, and Governor of the Central Bank, and is also a financial expert with international reputation. He is younger than the other two candidates.

The Singapore Constitution stipulates that the President must be an independent person. In order to run for president, Shandaman resigned from his government position and withdrew from the People's Action Party.

His proposed campaign keyword is "mutual respect", believing that this can bring Singaporeans closer together. Recently, Shang Daman also expressed concerns about the United States' "risk-free" strategy towards China.

According to pre election polls, Shandaman is at the forefront, leading the other two opponents.

Chinese candidate Huang Guosong is currently 75 years old and has worked closely with Premier Lee Hsien Loong for many years. He has worked in the public service sector for over 40 years and also has a financial background. He has worked at the Ministry of Finance and served as CEO of a Singapore government investment company. After stepping down from public office, Huang Guosong founded Avanda Investment Management Company, which has become one of the fastest growing investment companies in Singapore.

During the election, Huang Guosong emphasized his independent identity, which is independent of political parties and detached from politics, as well as decades of experience in assisting in the management of the national reserve fund, making him fully capable of assuming the role of president.

Among the three candidates, Chen Qinliang is the only one who has returned to the field. He was a member of the "Four Chen Duel" in the 2011 presidential election. Although he lost the election in the end, it accumulated his experience and popularity in running.

Chen Qinliang is of the same age as Huang Guosong and has served as the President of Singapore's Yingkang for 30 years. He has also served as the Chairman of the International Cooperative Mutual Insurance Federation and has expertise in business, insurance, and other fields.

On the political spectrum, Chen Qinliang was once a member of the People's Action Party, but later left the party due to his aversion to the party's elite attributes.

Chen Qinliang's label for himself is the only non institutional candidate among the candidates.

Chen Qingmu and Chen Rusi, both presidential candidates of 2011, also publicly stood on Chen Qinliang's platform, becoming a major highlight of this election. "One vote, three presidents," Chen Qinliang's latest campaign poster reads.

Choosing a political party is not choosing a president?

In Singapore, presidential candidates are required not to belong to any political party and must override partisan politics.

But in fact, presidential elections have always been politically charged, and this election is widely regarded as showing a tendency towards party politics, with the risk of evolving into party politics.

For example, according to election rules, the People's Action Party cannot openly support candidates in presidential elections, but public opinion believes that Shandaman is a candidate sent by the government, which raises questions about his political independence.

Moreover, in the past few presidential elections, candidates related to the People's Action Party have always achieved a resounding victory. This has stimulated opponents to participate in the presidential election, intending to break this situation. For example, Huang Guosong and Chen Qinliang, who participated in this election, either claimed to be detached from politics or claimed to be non establishment.

Even observers suggest that the 2023 presidential election is evolving into a competition between the opposition and the ruling People's Action Party. As opposition parties enter the presidential election, voters are gradually seeing it as a prelude to the next congressional election.

Some analysts also believe that this presidential election taking a partisan political path not only undermines the candidate's independent image, but may also lead to a negative direction of political partisanship in future presidential elections. They are concerned that the line between presidential and national elections will become increasingly blurred, so that future presidential elections will become a political party rather than a president.