Indian-origin economist Tharman Shanmugaratnam wins Singapore presidential election in landslide

SINGAPORE: Tharman Shanmugaratnam, an Indian-origin Singapore-born economist, registered a landslide victory in Singapore’s presidential election on Friday, winning over 70 per cent of votes in the country’s first contested presidential polls since 2011.

The 66-year-old former senior minister bagged 70.4 per cent (1,746,427 votes) of the 2.48 million votes cast, while his Chinese-origin rivals Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian received 15.72 per cent and 13.88 per cent respectively, the Elections Department said.

The result was announced by Returning Officer Tan Meng Dui at past midnight, making Tharman Singapore’s third Indian-origin president.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong congratulated Tharman, who served as Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2019, on winning the presidential election.

“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,” he said.

Lee noted that in Friday’s election, both voters and candidates showed a greater understanding of the roles and duties of the president, which bodes well for Singapore.

“I have every confidence that he will carry out his duties as president with distinction,” he said.

He joined politics in 2001 and has served in the public sector and ministerial positions with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) for over two decades.

In 2009, Nathan defeated Benjamin Sheares to become Singapore’s longest-serving president.

Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, better known as Devan Nair, served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resignation in 1985.

Born in 1923 in Malacca, Malaysia, Nair was the son of a rubber plantation clerk, who was originally from Thalassery, Kerala.