Singapore-born Indian-origin Tharman Shanmugaratnam and two Chinese-origin former executives of government-linked companies will be battling hard in the upcoming days to be the President of Singapore.
The election is scheduled to take place on September 1.
The Elections Department (ELD) of the country announced the names on Friday, setting a three-way fight for the presidential post.
At the close of applications for a Certificate of Eligibility on 17 August 2023, 5:30pm, the Presidential Elections Committee (Committee) received a total of six applications, read a statement issued by the Election Department.
Apart from the Indian-origin candidate, the other two persons to receive the 'Certificate of Eligibility' are Chief Investment Officer Ng Kok Song and former NTUC Income Chief Executive Tan Kin Lian.
Ng Kok Song applied under Article 19(3)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Constitution).
The Elections Department said Song is a man of integrity, good character and reputation.
Tan Kin Lian applied under Article 19(4)(b) of the Constitution, the department said.
"The Committee is satisfied, having regard to the nature of Mr Tan’s office in NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited, the size and complexity of NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited and Mr Tan’s performance in the office, that Mr Tan has experience and ability that is comparable to the experience and ability of a person who has served as the chief executive of a typical company with at least S$500 million of shareholders’ equity and who satisfies Article 19(4)(a) of the Constitution in relation to such service," read the statement issued by the department.
The tenure of the Incumbent President Halimah Yacob will end on September 13.