President of Singapore

The office of 'President of the Republic of Singapore', was created on 9 August 1965,[5] when Singapore became an independent and sovereign republic separate from and independent of Malaysia.

The Constitution of Singapore contains strict eligibility requirements for the presidency. With constitutional amendments passed in 1991, the presidency became a popularly elected office with certain custodial powers, particularly over government expenditure and key political appointments. Prior to that, presidents were appointed by the Parliament of Singapore.

It replaced the office of Yang di-Pertuan Negara, which was created when Singapore attained self-governance from the United Kingdom in 1959. The last Yang di-Pertuan Negara, Yusof Ishak, became the first president of Singapore. After his death in 1971, he was succeeded by Benjamin Sheares, who served until his death in 1981.

Sheares was succeeded by Devan Nair who then resigned in 1985 due to unclear circumstances, and was thereafter replaced by Wee Kim Wee, who served until 1993 and was the first president to exercise custodial powers pursuant to the constitutional amendments in 1991.

In January 1991, the Constitution[note 1] was amended to provide for the popular election of the president, a major constitutional and political change in Singapore's history. Under the revision, the president is empowered to veto the use of the country's past reserves and refuse to make or revoke appointments to the public offices defined in article 22 of the Constitution. The president can also examine the Government's usage of the Internal Security Act[6] and Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act,[7] and give concurrence to the Director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau to investigate persons for corrupt practices, even if the Prime Minister refuses to give his consent(see below).

The first elected president was Ong Teng Cheong, who served as Deputy Prime Minister prior to his presidency. He served as president from 1993 to 1999.

The Singapore Government has, on the advice of the Attorney-General's Chambers,[8] deemed Ong's predecessor Wee Kim Wee the first elected president, on the basis that he had held and exercised the powers of the elected president. This was a result of transitional provisions in the Constitution of Singapore in 2017,[9] which were affirmed by the High Court following a legal challenge by presidential hopeful Tan Cheng Bock.[10][11][12] He appealed against this decision, but the Court of Appeal also dismissed it.[13]

The sixth and longest-serving president, S. R. Nathan, was not elected by the members of public in a vote, but became president by virtue of being the sole candidate deemed qualified by the Presidential Elections Committee. He served his first term of office from 1999 to 2005 before being re-elected again without contest for a second term, and he served until 2011.

After S. R. Nathan stepped down, Tony Tan, who served as Deputy Prime Minister between 1995 and 2005, won the 2011 presidential election by a narrow margin. He was sworn in as the seventh president of Singapore on 1 September 2011.

In 2016, further amendments to the Constitution were passed providing for "reserved elections" for a particular ethnic community, if that community has not provided a president in the past five presidential terms.

The eighth and incumbent president, Halimah Yacob, who served as Speaker of Parliament prior to her presidency, took office on 14 September 2017. She was the sole eligible candidate under the new reform terms which took effect earlier that year. She is the first Malay head of state in 47 years since the death of the first president of Singapore, Yusof Ishak.[14] She is also the first female President of Singapore.[15]

The president is the head of state of the Republic of Singapore.[16] The executive authority of the country is vested in the president and exercisable by them or by the Cabinet or any minister authorised by the Cabinet.[17] However, the Constitution vests "general direction and control of the Government" in the Cabinet.[18] In most cases, the president is bound to exercise their powers in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet.[19]

However, the president is able to exercise some powers in their personal discretion[20] such as preventing the government of the day from drawing on the reserves which were not accumulated during its current term of office, refusing to make or revoking an appointment to any of the public offices under Article 22 of the Constitution such as Chief Justice, Attorney-General, Chief of Defence Force and Commissioner of Police, amongst others.[21], exercising oversight over the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and decisions of the Executive under the Internal Security Act[6] and the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act.[7]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speaking to President S. R. Nathan during the former's visit in 2009

As a component of the legislature together with Parliament, the president is also jointly vested with legislative authority.[22] The president's primary role in the exercise of legislative power to make laws is assenting to bills passed by Parliament.[23]

As the president exercises this constitutional function in accordance with the Cabinet's advice and not in their personal discretion except in certain circumstances,[24] they may not refuse to assent to bills that Parliament has validly passed. The words of enactment in Singapore Statutes are: "Be it enacted by the president with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:".[25] The president usually opens each parliamentary session with an address drafted by the Cabinet setting out the government's agenda for the session,[26] and may address Parliament and send messages to it.[27]

The president has been called "Singapore's No. 1 diplomat".[28] Ambassadors and high commissioners accredited to Singapore present their credentials to the president, and the president is called upon by visiting foreign dignitaries. In addition, the president contributes to the nation's external relations by undertaking overseas trips on Cabinet's advice. The president also serves as the ex officio chancellor of both the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University.

Presidents have also used the office to champion charitable causes. Wee Kim Wee promoted sports and volunteerism; Ong Teng Cheong promoted culture and the arts, particularly music; and S. R. Nathan established the President's Challenge with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and its statutory board, the National Council of Social Service. As of 2011, the endeavour had raised more than S$100 million for charities supporting disabled and needy people.[28]

The president has personal discretion as to whether to approve budgets or financial transactions of specified statutory boards and state-owned companies that are likely to draw on past reserves. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, photographed here in September 2009, is one such statutory board.

The powers of the president are divided into those which the president may exercise in their own discretion, and those which must be exercised in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet.[29] In addition, the president is required to consult the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) when performing some of their functions. In other cases, they may consult the CPA if they wish to but is not bound to do so.[30]

The Constitution confers on the president certain executive functions to block attempts by the government of the day to draw down past reserves that it did not accumulate. Thus, a guarantee may only be given or a loan raised by the government if the president concurs,[31] and their approval is also needed for budgets of specified statutory boards and state-owned companies that draw on their past reserves.[32]

The president also possesses personal discretion to withhold assent to any bill in Parliament providing directly or indirectly for the direct or indirect variation, changing or increase in powers of the Central Provident Fund Board to invest moneys belonging to it;[33] and the borrowing of money, the giving of any guarantee or the raising of any loan by the government if in the president's opinion the bill is likely to draw on reserves not accumulated by the Government during its current term of office.[34] In addition, the president may withhold assent to any Supply Bill, Supplementary Supply Bill or Final Supply Bill for any financial year if in their opinion the estimates of revenue and expenditure, supplementary estimates or statement of excess are likely to lead to a drawing on past reserves.[35]

The president is also empowered to approve changes to key political appointments, such as the chief justice, attorney-general, chairman and members of the Public Service Commission, chief of Defence Force and the commissioner of Police.[36] They also appoint the prime minister, a Member of Parliament (MP) who, in their opinion, is likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs.[37] The president has certain powers of oversight over the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau[38] and decisions of the Executive under the Internal Security Act[39] and the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act.[40]

Under the Singapore Armed Forces Act, the president has the authority to raise and maintain the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The president also has the power to form, disband or amalgamate units within the SAF.

The term of office of the first elected president, Ong Teng Cheong, was marked by the differences between the government and him, concerning the extent of his discretionary fiscal powers.[41] Discussions culminated in the government issuing a non-binding white paper entitled The Principles for Determining and Safeguarding the Accumulated Reserves of the Government and the Fifth Schedule Statutory Boards and Government Companies (1999).[42]

In 2009, the government had to request for the approval from President S. R. Nathan to draw $4.9 billion from past financial reserves to meet current budget expenditure, the first time it had done so. The sum was used to fund the government's Resilience Package consisting of two schemes aimed at preserving jobs and businesses during the financial downturn.[43]

The person elected to the office of president assumes office on the day his predecessor ceases to hold office or, if the office is vacant, on the day following his election. Upon his assumption of office, the president is required to take and subscribe in the presence of the chief justice or of another justice of the Supreme Court the Oath of Office, which states:[94]

I, [name], having been elected President of the Republic of Singapore, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge my duties as such to the best of my ability without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and without regard to any previous affiliation with any political party, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic, and that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore.

Once elected, the president shall:[95]

• not hold any other office created or recognised by the Constitution;
• not actively engage in any commercial enterprise;
• not be a member of any political party; and
• if he or she is a Member of Parliament (MP), vacate his or her seat in Parliament.

In the case when the president is unable to perform their duties, their powers are temporarily transferred to the chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA). If the chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers is not available, the speaker of the Parliament performs the duties of the president. If both are unavailable the presidential functions are performed by an individual appointed by the Parliament.

President Ong Teng Cheong received by Carlos Menem.

The Parliament of Singapore is required to provide a civil list for the maintenance of the president,[96] and it does so by way of the Civil List and Gratuity Act.[97] With effect from 17 February 2012, the sum under Class I of the list, which includes the president's personal pay ($1,568,900, known by the British term the "privy purse"), an entertainment allowance ($73,000) and an allowance for an acting president ($4,500), is $1,646,400. The privy purse was reduced from $4,267,500 after the president accepted the Ministerial Salaries Review Committee's recommendations on the matter.[98]

The salaries for the president's personal staff (Class II) amount to $4,532,400. Speaking in Parliament on 10 March 2011, Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam explained that this sum was to cater for the salaries of an additional staff officer to support the work of the Council of Presidential Advisers, and a butler manager; and to meet higher variable staff salary payments due to the nation's strong economic growth.[99][100] The allowance for the Istana's household expenses (Class III) is $2,762,308, an increase from $694,000. This allowance is used to cover the maintenance of the Istana, vehicles, utilities and other supplies, as well as for ceremonies and celebrations. The increase was to cater for higher expenses for maintaining computer systems, buildings and land, and to account for inflation.[98]

Class IV expenses for "special services" are $550,000. In previous years, this sum was used to cover various expenses such as the cost of replacing state cars and installing a new document repository.[101] Overall, the current civil list of $9,491,100 represents a decrease of about 18% from the sum for the past fiscal year of $11,605,000.[102]

• Spouse of the President of Singapore

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