🇸🇬 Halimah's out, who is the next president?

Hello friends!

An unusually bulky Singapore political update from me today as well as a quick look at the busy week in Thailand’s endless election. 

It’s a lot, so let’s crack straight in!

See you next week,Erin Cook

🇸🇬 The race begins for Singapore’s next president 

Thanks but no thanks, incumbent President Halimah Yacob said of seeking re-election when her six-year term expires this September. “It has been a great honour and privilege to serve as the eighth president of Singapore for the past six years. The experience has been most inspiring and, at the same time, humbling,” she said in a statement announcing her decision last month. She was the first woman president ever and the first president of Malay background since 1970. 

She won her term uncontested but this time around it’s already busier. Nominations opened at the start of the week and we have two serious contenders at this stage. 

The role is typically referred to as ‘largely ceremonial’ and there has been a bit of excitement about the perceived ‘wasting’ of talents and political skills as president. A very intriguing op-ed here from Eugene K B Tan, associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University, has given me some things to think about even if I’m not entirely convinced:

Who is Tharman Shanmugaratnam?

People’s Action Party heavyweight and former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam made an enormous splash last week when he announced his resignation from his various government roles and the party to run for president. 

“I believe that I can now best serve Singapore not in politics, but in a different role that has to be above politics. I will also work to the best of my abilities to project Singapore’s interests and voice of reason in an increasingly turbulent world,” Tharman said in his resignation letter to PM Lee Hsien Loong, as reported by Bloomberg. 

He’ll be missed, LHL wrote on Facebook last week: “As a member of my team, he has worked hard to build a more inclusive society, and to improve wages and create better jobs for Singaporeans. Tharman made significant contributions to strengthen our social mobility escalator, as well as what he called our social safety ‘trampoline.’”Tharman’s candidacy brings up some interesting conversations in Singapore. If this role is essentially apolitical, can a former high-profile PAP cadre really be considered independent? And, as is often the case in Singaporean politics, there’s a racial element at play here. Tharman, who is of Tamil-descent, has hit a ceiling in the PAP despite his popularity and widespread belief he’s done a reasonably good job in his various postings. No prime minister since independence has been of any other ethnicity beyond Chinese (and two-thirds are Lees, at that) is president the best bet for a competent lawmaker of a different background?

Don’t worry about the whole government thing, he stressed to voters over the weekend. “I’m not on the same team as the government once I become president, be very clear about that,” he said, as reported by Channel News Asia. He would not be drawn into discussing his campaign plans further just yet.

Who is George Goh?

Opening up the race as an independent is a major argument Goh is making for his candidacy: “(If) you look at the last five Presidential Elections, three (were) walkovers... I think the people deserve it to vote for their president... so, I am coming forward. When I started, I didn’t have anything, but this land has given me a lot. It is time for me to serve the nation... Today, I want to give my people a choice,” Goh told supporters on Tuesday, as per Straits Times. 

He’s not exactly an unknown entity to Singapore, with decades of business experience after having a hand in founding retail giant Ossia International, but his life story is an interesting one. CNA has one of their great ‘5 facts’ lists about him and his rags-to-riches story. Interestingly, he was born across the way in Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan but moved to Singapore in his teens to work in a shoe factory. He went on to do very well in business and Singapore’s public life. 

Now he’s got his sight set on something even more ambitious. But why? “All four of Singapore’s past elected presidents were political appointment holders or from the public sector. It is time to have a truly independent person with a pair of fresh eyes to play the role the elected president was created for,” his team said in a statement, as per CNA.

Goh will use his “considerable managerial and leadership expertise, acquired both here and abroad, to make judgments about a person’s suitability for an important post,” the statement added.

🇹🇭 Pita vs. the Electoral Commission

It’s not over yet, but I’m happy to put my vote for lede of the election cycle behind this long read from Nikkei Asia:

Pita is mightily popular after last month’s impressive showing at the polls but it is not, by any means, a certainty that he will take on the top job. This piece breaks it all down, including how the Senate is looking to sway, and if you read only one thing about the last few weeks make it the Nikkei piece.

A lot hinges on an investigation launched by the Electoral Commission looking into Pita’s initial eligibility to run. Detractors say the 42,000 shares in iTV, a defunct but not entirely dissolved media company, mean he should never have been able to nominate. The shares became known after he filed an assets report with the National Anti-Corruption Commission in 2019 when he first became an MP, Thai Enquirer reports. 

Thai Enquirer adds that the EC is expected to officially certify results shortly and Pita will still be able to take his seat and continue negotiations for PM. But, the outlet notes, the EC investigation will continue, thus flagging possible issues in the coming months. 

Still, the EC is taking it very seriously. “There is sufficient information to suspect that the candidate is unfit or prohibited from seeking public office, according to electoral regulations, to further investigate Pita,” election commission chairman Ittiporn Boonprakong told Reuters earlier this week.

Move Forward Secretary-General Chaitawat Tulathon stands by the party’s man. “The Election Commission may take action against Pita in the future. The party is confident that the allegations do not have sufficient evidence,” he said at a press conference this week as per Al Jazeera. 

That drama is one thing, but there are other cases, according to the above Thai Enquirer piece: “He also faces other allegations, including alcohol advertising and a lese-majeste complaint for his comments to BBC. These are criminal charges that could result in jail time and disqualification from office as well.”

All of this is excellent news if you’re part of the political elite who absolutely does not want to concede victory to the progressive upstarts. Let’s see where this goes.