1993 Singaporean presidential election

1993 Singaporean presidential election
	28 August 1993
President before election; Wee Kim Wee; Independent	Elected President ; Ong Teng Cheong; Independent

The 1993 Singaporean presidential election was held to elect the next president of Singapore. Two eligible candidates were issued certificates of eligibility by the Presidential Elections Committee, and both were nominated on Nomination Day with Ong Teng Cheong defeated Chua Kim Yeow 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 Constitution of Singapore,[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 on 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.

Candidates

Eligible

Candidates	Background	Outcome
Ong Teng Cheong	A former member of the governing People's Action Party, he served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1985 to 1993, Minister for Labour from 1981 to 1983 and Minister for Communications from 1978 to 1981. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kim Keat ward of Toa Payoh GRC from 1991 to 1993 and previously Kim Keat SMC from 1972 to 1991. He had resigned as Deputy Prime Minister before submitting his presidential eligibility forms.	Application for the Certificate of Eligibility Accepted.
Chua Kim Yeow	Chua served as the first auditor-general of Singapore. He was a reluctant candidate and had to be persuaded by the Singapore Government to stand for the presidential election.

Declared Ineligible

Candidates	Background	Outcome
J. B. Jeyaretnam	Jeyaretnam served as Secretary-General of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001. In 1981, he became the first opposition politician since Singapore's independence in 1965, when he defeated Pang Kim Hin of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) in a by-elections in Anson SMC. He was re-elected during 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 before submitting his presidential eligibility forms but was rejected.	Application for the Certificate of Eligibility rejected.
Tan Soo Phuan	A member of the opposition Workers' Party (WP) from 1971 to 2001. He submitted his presidential eligibility forms but were ruled ineligible.

Declined

Candidates	Background
Chia Shi Teck	He was a Nominated Member of Parliament who threw his hat in to help avert a uncontested walkover, but subsequently withdrew his application after Chua Kim Yeow stood in.

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 as Deputy Prime Minister, MP for Toa Payoh GRC, and party member of the People's Action Party (PAPG in order to contest in the election. Ong was backed by influential leaders such as Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

However, some members of the Cabinet and the PAP supported Chua, including Minister for Finance Richard Hu and Chairman and CEO of OCBC Bank Tony Tan. Workers' Party members J. B. Jeyaretnam[5] and Tan Soo Phuan 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 Singapore Government to stand in, so that the election would not be an uncontested walkover, and at the same time, 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. However, Chua took it to the extreme, urging supporters not to campaign for him. He appeared on TV only 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 winning 58.69% of the votes. Returning Officer Ong Kok Min declared Ong Teng Cheong as Singapore's first president-elect and was sworn in as the fifth president of Singapore on 1 September 1993.


Candidate	Votes	%
Ong Teng Cheong	952,513	58.69
Chua Kim Yeow	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
Singapore Window - Singapore

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[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

Elections and referendums in Singapore
General elections	1948 1951 1955 1959 1963 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1991 1997 2001 2006 2011 2015 2020 Next
By-elections	1948 1952 1957 1961 1965 1966 1967 1970 1977 1979 1981 1992 2012 2013 2016
Presidential elections	1993 1999‡ 2005‡ 2011 2017‡ 2023
Local elections	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1949 (Apr) 1949 (Dec) 1950 1951 1952 1953 1957 1958
Referendums	1962
‡ uncontested