Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former Singapore deputy prime minister, has been elected to the ceremonial post of president, according to official results, in an election seen as a barometer of public sentiment towards the ruling party amid economic challenges.
The Elections Department on Friday declared the 66-year-old economist as the winner over two rival candidates after securing 70.4 percent of votes.
“I believe that it’s a vote of confidence in Singapore. It’s a vote of optimism for a future in which we can progress together,” Shanmugaratnam said in a speech before the results were announced.
While the presidency is a largely ceremonial, nonpartisan post under the constitution, political lines were already drawn ahead of Friday’s election to replace incumbent Halimah Yacob, who ran unopposed for her six-year term in 2017.
The city-state’s government is run by the prime minister, currently Lee Hsien Loong of the PAP, a party that has ruled Singapore continuously since 1959.
Analysts said the landslide victory for the candidate seen as closest to the establishment is a sign that Singaporeans generally still trust the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).
“It shows that the PAP is still a trusted brand, as long as the candidate that is put forth is credible. Tharman is as credible as it gets,” said political scientist Walid Jumblatt Abdullah of Nanyang Technological University.
-Dailymirror