Whooping win for Shanmugaratnam! Indian Origin elected as Singapore’s new President

Indian-origin economist, Tharman Shanmugaratnam has been elected as the ninth President of Singapore and will hold office for the next six years. The former Deputy Prime Minister, Tharman won the presidential race with a majority of 70.4 percent, the country’s election department announced on Friday, 1 September despite the recent scandals involving his party.

This was the city-state’s first contested vote for the largely ceremonial position in more than a decade. He replaces incumbent Halimah Yacob who ran unopposed for her six-year term in 2017. He also defeated two contenders of Chinese origin, Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian, who secured 15.7 percent and 13.88 percent votes in the country’s first contested presidential polls since 2011.

Shanmugaratnam’s reaction to winning

Following his historic win, Tharman expressed his delight and gratitude in a Facebook post where he also thanked the citizens of Singapore for their support. “My fellow Singaporeans, I am truly humbled by the strong endorsement you have given me in our nation’s presidential election. My fellow candidates put full effort and energy into their campaigns and made this a worthy contest. I thank and commend them,” Mr Shanmugaratnam posted on Facebook.

“Above all I thank my fellow Singaporeans, whichever way you voted, for your interest and calm engagement in the issues raised in the election. I believe the vote for me and what I stood for is a vote of confidence in Singapore itself, a vote of optimism in how we can progress together and support each other as Singaporeans,” he said.

Prime Minister’s remark

The current Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, also congratulated, Shanmugaratnam on his win. The two of them belong to the same ruling party where the 66-year-old was Lee

‘s deputy prime minister.

Lee Hsien Loong said, “Singaporeans have chosen Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam to be our next president by a decisive margin. As head of state, he will represent us at home and abroad, and exercise custodial powers, including over the reserves and key appointments.”

“I thank the three candidates for putting themselves forward in this presidential election. I am happy that Singaporeans have been able to exercise the right to vote for our next president,” Lee added.

The People’s Action Party (PAP) is set to take office after President Halimah Yacob’s six-year term ends on September 1.