2023 Singaporean presidential election

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← 2017 1 September 2023 2029 →
Registered2,709,455 Increase 7.66%[a]
Turnout2,530,912 (93.41%) Decrease 1.39%[b]
 
Nominee Tharman Shanmugaratnam Ng Kok Song Tan Kin Lian
Party Independent Independent Independent
Popular vote 1,746,427 390,041 344,292
Percentage 70.40% 15.72% 13.88%
President before election

Halimah Yacob
Independent

Elected President

Tharman Shanmugaratnam
Independent

Presidential elections were held in Singapore on 1 September 2023. It was the sixth elected Singaporean presidential election and the third where more than one candidate was contesting in the election. Current president Halimah Yacob did not want to seek re-election.

The candidates contesting in the election are Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Ng Kok Song, and Tan Kin Lian, who are independent candidates. Candidates contesting must be an independent.

The winner of the election was announced on 2 September. It was revealed that Tharman Shanmugaratnam was the winner, getting 70.40% of the vote. He would be the first non-Chinese president to be elected. He will be inaugurated on 14 September as the ninth President of Singapore.[1]

Background[change | change source]

Halimah Yacob is the eighth President of Singapore. She started playing her current role on 14 September 2017.[2] It was due to her being elected unopposed in the 2017 Singaporean presidential elections. In 2023, since current president Halimah Yacob's term is three months from expiring, there is a need for an election to occur. She announced that she would not be contesting in the election.[3]

On 11 August 2023, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that there would be an election and the details about the election.[4]

Selection of candidates[change | change source]

Many people wanted to contest in the election. However, only three candidates were able to. They are Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Ng Kok Song, and Tan Kin Lian. Ng, who was formerly the Chief Investment Officer of a government company, had the experience to run for the presidency. His role as the Chief Investment Officer was comparable to a Chief Executive Officer. He also served in the role for more than 3 years. Tharman was able to run for the presidency as he served as a minister for more than three years. Tan, formerly the Chief Executive Officer of NTUC Income, was able to contest. He served in the role for more than three years. His role can be compared to a chief executive of a big company.[5]

Candidate Information[change | change source]

Candidates' symbols and slogans[change | change source]

Candidate Details of symbol Slogan
Ng Kok Song Hand with a heart shape at its palm United for our future
Tharman Shanmugaratnam Pineapple Respect for all
Tan Kin Lian Four person living in harmony, holding a flower Bring back trust, give us hope

Team of Assenters[change | change source]

Candidates Ng Kok Song[6] Tan Kin Lian[7] Tharman Shanmugaratnam[8]
Assenter Name Name Name
Proposer Quah Wee Ghee Tan Jee Say Thomas Chua Kee Seng
Seconder Carol Tan Lim Tean Mohammad Alami Musa
Assenter 1 Ameerali Abdeali Leong Sze Hian Mary Liew
Assenter 2 Ho Tian Yee Yeo Gim Beng Lim Siong Guan
Assenter 3 Chua Cher Choon Manmeet Singh s/o Bahadar Singh Ho Kwon Ping
Assenter 4 Mohamed Salleh Marican Vigneswari d/o V Ramachan-dran Kamisinah Sadar
Assenter 5 Margaret Chan Vincent Tan Hun Cheong Veera Sekaran
Assenter 6 Abdul Hamid Abdullah Chiu Shin Kong Hassan Ahmad
Assenter 7 Tjio Hans Chen Jun Hao Kim Whye Kee
Assenter 8 Angelene Chan Khuan Jia Hui Royston Tan

Campaigning[change | change source]

Ng Kok Song stated that he is an independent candidate and has never been part of any political party in Singapore. He shared the importance of his experience protecting the reserves of Singapore with GIC. He said that he would protect the three treasures of Singapore: past reserves, public services and social stability.[9]

Tharman Shanmugaratnam said he wanted "fair, dignified and honourable contest" for voters, and wanted to "unites Singaporeans and not divide us".[10]

Tan Kin Lian highlighted the importance of having an independent candidate. He wanted voters to vote for him as he is "truly independent".[11]

All candidates placed up posters except Ng Kok Song. He believed it hurts the environment. Also, he did not have the ability to put up posters. He would appeal to voters on the internet.[12] All candidates used social media to campaign for the elections.

Polling and results[change | change source]

The day for polling was held on 1 September 2023 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. SST (UTC+08:00). The election would have 2,709,455 voters that can cast their votes for the next president.[13]

A sample count was released at about 11:42 p.m. The sample count was included to prevent people from speculating or relying on unofficial sources for information when the counting of votes was still going on.[14] The count showed that Tharman was leading with 70% of the votes, followed by Ng with 16% and Tan with 14%.[15]

The final result was released at about 12:23 a.m. on 2 September, and are shown below (which excludes overseas votes):

CandidateVotes%
Tharman Shanmugaratnam1,746,42770.40
Ng Kok Song390,04115.72
Tan Kin Lian344,29213.88
Total2,480,760100.00
Valid votes2,480,76098.02
Invalid/blank votes50,1521.98
Total votes2,530,912100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,709,45593.41
Source: [16][17]

Notes[change | change source]

  1. ↑ From 2011.
  2. ↑ From 2011.

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Goh, Yan Han (11 August 2023). "Singapore Presidential Election 2023: Polling Day on Sept 1, Nomination Day on Aug 22". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  2. ↑ Correspondent, Tham Yuen-CSenior Political (13 September 2017). "Halimah Yacob to be sworn in as Singapore's 8th president on Thursday: PMO". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  3. ↑ "President Halimah Yacob will not stand for re-election in 2023 poll". CNA. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "Writ issued for Presidential Election; Nomination Day on Aug 22, Polling Day on Sept 1". TODAY. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  5. ↑ https://www.eld.gov.sg/press/2023/PR%20on%20Issuance%20of%20Certificate%20of%20Eligibility%20for%20PE2023.pdf
  6. ↑ "Presidential hopeful Ng Kok Song announces proposer, seconder and assenters". www.businesstimes.com.sg. 21 August 2023. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "Tan Kin Lian refutes claims he is short of assenters, Tan Jee Say & Lim Tean among his 10 supporters". mothership.sg. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  8. ↑ "Ho Kwon Ping, Royston Tan & Muhd Alami Musa among S'poreans publicly supporting Tharman's presidential bid". mothership.sg. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "Ng Kok Song urges voters to pick him as President for his experience with Singapore's reserves, political neutrality". CNA. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Tharman looking forward to 'fair, dignified, honourable' contest in Presidential Election". CNA. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  11. ↑ "I want to give Singaporeans a chance to vote for a 'truly independent' president: Tan Kin Lian". CNA. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Begum, Shabana (23 August 2023). "No posters or banners for presidential candidate Ng Kok Song, whose focus is on social media campaign". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  13. ↑ Hamzah, Aqil (20 July 2023). "Presidential Election 2023: More than 2.7 million eligible to vote". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  14. ↑ Ganesan, Natasha (31 August 2023). "CNA Explains: Sample counts, invalid votes and recounts – what you need to know about PE2023 Polling Day". CNA. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  15. ↑ Tham, Yuen-C (1 September 2023). "Tharman set to be Singapore's next president with 70 per cent of the vote in sample count". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  16. ↑ Oh, Tessa (2 September 2023). "Tharman Shanmugaratnam elected as Singapore's 9th president in 70.4% landslide". The Business Times. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  17. ↑ "Tharman Shanmugaratnam to be Singapore's 9th President after 70.4% landslide win". CNA. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
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