1993 Singaporean presidential election

The Singaporean presidential election of 1993 was held to elect the next President of Singapore with Ong Teng Cheong as the winning candidate due to a popular vote.

Background[]

Constitution Amendments[]

In January 1991, the Constitution of Singapore^[1] was amended to provide for the popular election of the President. The creation of the elected presidency was a major constitutional and political change in Singapore's history as, under the revision, the President is empowered to veto the use of government reserves and appointments to key civil service appointments. He or she can also examine the administration's enforcement of the Internal Security Act^[2] and Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act,^[3] and look into investigations of corruption.

By virtue of transitional provisions in the Singapore Constitution,^[4] Ong's predecessor Wee Kim Wee exercised, performed and discharged all the functions, powers and duties of an elected president as if he had been elected to the office of President by the citizens of Singapore.

Polling day was 28 August 1993. The writ of election was issued on 4 August 1993, with the Nomination day and Polling Day adjourned on 18 and 28 August 1993, respectively. Two eligible candidates are Chinese Singaporeans and were issued certificates of eligibility by Singapore's Presidential Elections Committee, and both were nominated on Nomination Day.

Candidates[]

Eligible[]

Candidates	Background	Outcome
Ong Teng Cheong	A member of the People's Action Party and served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1985 to 1993. He was the Member of Parliament for Kim Keat Division and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts from 1978 to 1981, the Ministry of Manpower (Singapore) from 1981 to 1983. He has earlier resign from Deputy Prime Minister. He submitted his presidential eligibility forms.	Application for the Certificate of Eligibility Accepted.
Chua Kim Yeow	Singapore's first local accountant-general. He was a reluctant candidate and had to be persuaded by the Government to stand in and has submitted his presidential eligibility forms.

Declared Ineligible[]

Candidates	Background	Outcome
J. B. Jeyaretnam	The leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001. In 1981, he became the first opposition politician since Singapore's independence in 1965 he defeated Pang Kim Hin of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) in a by-election in Anson Single Member Constituency. He was re-elected at the 1984 general election, but lost his seat in Parliament in 1986 following a conviction for falsely accounting the party's funds. His conviction was subsequently overturned by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which called the conviction a "grievous injustice". Jeyaretnam returned to Parliament after the 1997 general election as a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament has submitted his presidential eligibility forms but was rejected.	Application for the Certificate of Eligibility rejected.
Tan Soo Phuan	A member of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001 . He applied for the COE independently of each other and their party but were ruled ineligible.

Declined[]

Candidates	Background
Chia Shi Teck	He was a nominated Member of Parliament threw his hat in to help avert a walkover but withdrew his application after Chua Kim Yeow offered himself.

Nomination day[]

Candidates needed to obtain a Certificate of Eligibility from the Presidential Elections Committee, and pay an election deposit of S$18,000, three times that of a Parliamentary candidate, in order to file their nomination papers. Ong had earlier resigned his Deputy Prime Minister portfolio, his MP for Toa Payoh GRC (now belong to Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), and his People's Action Party membership in order to contest in the election. Ong was backed by influential leaders such as then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

However, some members of the Cabinet and the People's Action Party supported Chua, including then-Finance Minister Richard Hu^{[citation needed]} and former Trade Minister, then-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Tony Tan Keng Yam^{[citation needed]}. Workers' Party members J B Jeyaretnam^[5] and also applied for nomination, but were not awarded the Certificate of Eligibility.

Chua's Campaign[]

Chua was a reluctant candidate and had to be persuaded by the Government to stand so that the election would be contested, and the electorate could choose between two good candidates.^[6]

The 10-day campaign was supposed to be a "gentlemen's election", free of flag-waving and noisy rallies. But Chua took it to the extreme, urging supporters not to campaign for him. He appeared on TV just twice (once avoiding any mention of himself or his views), and even announced on polling day that Ong was the better candidate. Even so, Chua did surprisingly well, garnering 41.3% of the vote.^[7]

Results[]

Polls were closed and votes were counted with Ong Teng Cheong with 58.69% of the votes. The Returning Officer Ong Kok Min declared Ong Teng Cheong as Singapore's first president-elect and was inaugurated as the fifth President of Singapore on 1 September 1993.^{[citation needed]}.


Candidate	Votes	%
Ong Teng Cheong	952,513	58.69
	670,358	41.31
Total	1,622,871	100.00

Valid votes	1,622,871	97.79
Invalid/blank votes	36,611	2.21
Total votes	1,659,482	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	1,756,517	94.48
Source: Singapore Elections

References[]

^ Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (1999 Reprint).
^ Internal Security Act (Cap. 143, 1985 Rev. Ed.).
^ Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (Cap. 167A, 2001 Rev. Ed.).
^ Singapore Constitution, above, Art. 163(1).
^ South China Morning Post, "Voters yearn for real presidential contest, survey finds" p 123, 20 July 1999
^ Seow, Bei Yi (21 August 2016). "Chua Kim Yeow, Singapore's first local accountant-general, dies at age of 90". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
^ South China Morning Post, "Voters yearn for real presidential contest, survey finds" p 123, 9 July 1999

External links[]

Government Gazette on Presidential Elections Committee Elections Department - Singapore
[1] Singapore Window - Singapore

[1] Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (1999 Reprint).

[2] Internal Security Act (Cap. 143, 1985 Rev. Ed.).

[3] Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (Cap. 167A, 2001 Rev. Ed.).

[4] Singapore Constitution, above, Art. 163(1).

[5] South China Morning Post, "Voters yearn for real presidential contest, survey finds" p 123, 20 July 1999

[6] Seow, Bei Yi (21 August 2016). "Chua Kim Yeow, Singapore's first local accountant-general, dies at age of 90". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 August 2016.

[7] South China Morning Post, "Voters yearn for real presidential contest, survey finds" p 123, 9 July 1999

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