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2005 Singaporean presidential election

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Field	Value
country	Singapore
type	presidential
previous_election	1999 Singaporean presidential election
previous_year	1999
next_election	2011 Singaporean presidential election
next_year	2011
election_date	17 August 2005
registered	2,113,540 ( 7.40%)
image1	President of Singapore SR Nathan.jpg
nominee1	Sellapan Ramanathan
party1	Independent politician
popular_vote1	*Unopposed*
title	President
before_election	Sellapan Ramanathan
after_election	Sellapan Ramanathan
before_party	Independent politician
after_party	Independent politician

Presidential elections were scheduled to be held in Singapore on 17 August 2005. 21 application forms for the Certificate of Eligibility required to contest were collected, and forms were submitted by four candidates. After considering the candidate's applications, the Presidential Elections Committee issued only one Certificate of Eligibility to the incumbent, Sellapan Ramanathan.

S.R. Nathan was the only candidate to stand nominated and thus was re-elected uncontested due to the lack of other eligible candidates. S.R. Nathan previously served as Singapore's Ambassador to the United States from 1990 to 1996. He continued his second term as the sixth President of Singapore.

Candidates

Eligible

Candidates	Background	Outcome	Application for the Certificate of Eligibility Accepted.
S. R. Nathan	Seconded to the National Trades Union Congress, and then worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs. He was once the Ambassador-at-large of Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies and now the Incumbent President of Singapore.

Declared Ineligible

Candidates	Background	Outcome	Application for the Certificate of Eligibility rejected.
Kuan Yoke Loon Andrew	Kuan was the former chief financial officer of Jurong Town Corporation (JTC). Independent media in Singapore widely speculated that the PAP government was not prepared for Kuan's candidacy, with the Think Centre NGO accusing the state media of "badmouthing" him. He submitted eligibility forms to the Elections Department but was declared ineligible.
Ooi Boon Ewe	Ooi was a real estate executive. His application for the Certificate of Eligibility was rejected by the Presidential Elections Committee due to his lack of experience and ability required by the Constitution. He submitted eligibility forms to the Elections Department but was declared ineligible.
Ramachandran Govindasamy Naidu	His application for the Certificate of Eligibility was rejected by the Presidential Elections Committee due to his lack of experience and ability required by the Constitution. He submitted eligibility forms to the Elections Department but was declared ineligible.

Andrew Kuan's background

On 9 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called for all candidates to be open about their records so that Singaporeans could make an informed judgment on them. He also encouraged Andrew Kuan's former employers to come forward, speak freely, and tell Singaporeans what they knew about him.

On 11 August, Kuan's former employer, JTC, held a news conference to outline the circumstances leading to Kuan's resignation in July 2004. Chong Lit Cheong, JTC's chief executive officer, stated that Andrew Kuan's work at JTC had been unsatisfactory since his first year there, and he had been asked to resign twice, once in 2003 and again in 2004. No details as to how his work was unsatisfactory were provided, other than a note that no fraud or other crime was involved, and he needed "quite a fair bit of handholding". In reply, Kuan noted that he had worked at JTC Corporation for 37 months, which had extended his contract several times, and he had been given performance bonuses and a raise during this period. Another company, Hyflux, also publicly criticised Kuan.

Later, Kuan was disqualified by the Presidential Elections Committee for failing to meet the criteria for running for president. The committee said Kuan's seniority and responsibility as JTC's chief financial officer were not comparable to those required by the Constitution. A presidential candidate is required to have had experience as the chairman or CEO of a statutory board or of a company with a paid-up capital of at least S$100 million.

References

(13 August 2005). "Press Statement by the Presidential Elections Committee on Applications for Certificates of Eligibility". Singapore Presidential Elections Committee.
"Presidential election".
"Singapore: Presidential contest - panic in the PAP?".
Cher, Derek. (9 August 2005). "PM Lee emphasises importance of electing the right person as President".
Abdul Rahim, Farah. (11 August 2005). "JTC says presidential hopeful Andrew Kuan's work unsatisfactory".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

presidential-elections-in-singapore 2005-elections-in-asia 2005-in-singapore uncontested-elections

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