1993 Singaporean presidential election
28 August 1993
Registered1,756,517
Turnout94.48%
 
Nominee Ong Teng Cheong Chua Kim Yeow
Party Independent Independent
Popular vote 952,513 670,358
Percentage 58.69% 41.31%
President before election

Wee Kim Wee
Independent

 Elected President

Ong Teng Cheong
Independent

Presidential elections were held in Singapore on 28 August 1993. Following amendments to the Constitution in 1991, presidential elections since then are to be directly elected by citizens. Incumbent president Wee Kim Wee, who had been elected by Parliament in 1989, did not seek re-election.

A non-partisan position, the candidates contesting in the election were Ong Teng Cheong and Chua Kim Yeow, who were all independents or had resigned from any political parties that they had previously been members of. They were all issued the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) as well as a community certificate to be able to contest in the election as per the eligibility requirements.

The 1993 presidential election was also the only presidential election with a straight head-to-head contest, not counting walkovers.

Ong won the election with 58.7% of the vote while Chua has obtained 41.3% of the vote and Ong was inaugurated as the fifth President of Singapore on 1 September. Ong become the first president to have won a majority of the popular vote, and was the only one in doing so until Tharman Shanmugaratnam in 2023 who attained 70.40%; as of the election.

Background

Constitution amendments

In January 1991, the Constitution of Singapore[1] was amended to provide for the popular election of the President for a six-year term. The creation of the elected presidency was a major constitutional and political change in Singapore's history. Under the revision, the president has veto powers over the spending of the national reserves, monetary policies and appointments in the civil service, government companies and the statutory boards.[2] The president's veto powers checks the government by preventing the misuse of the national reserves and ensuring that the public service is impartial. The president must consult the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) on matters relating to past reserves and the appointment and removal of key office holders. The president may veto the government's proposals in the following areas:

  1. Changes to the investment powers of the Central Provident Fund Board,
  2. Restraining orders under the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act,[3]
  3. Continued detention under the Internal Security Act,[4] and
  4. Refusal of investigations by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.

There are strict requirements for prospective election candidates, and whether a candidate meets the qualifications or not is decided by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC). In short, candidates must satisfy either the public sector or private sector requirements. The public sector requirement has an automatic track where the candidate has held either a designated public office or chief executive position of a key statutory board or government company. The private sector requirement also has an automatic track where the candidate has held a chairmanship or CEO position of a company with S$100 million paid-up capital. Not withstanding the automatic tracks of the aforementioned, candidates could also be qualified on a deliberative track where their abilities and experiences have been assessed by the PEC to be equivalent to either of the public or private sector automatic track requirements.

By virtue of the transitional provisions in the Constitution of Singapore,[5] 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.

Candidates

Eligible

Candidates Background Outcome
Ong Teng CheongA former member of the governing People's Action Party, he was the Chairman of the People's Action Party and served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Labour and was the Member of Parliament (MP) of Toa Payoh GRC between 1988 and 1993 and Kim Keat SMC between 1972 and 1988. He had resigned as Deputy Prime Minister and his role from the PAP before submitting his presidential eligibility forms. Application for the Certificate of Eligibility Accepted.
Chua Kim YeowChua served as the first auditor-general of Singapore. He was a reluctant candidate and had to be persuaded by the government to stand for the presidential election and avoid an uncontested walkover.

Declared Ineligible

Candidates Background Outcome
J. B. JeyaretnamThe Secretary-General of the Workers' Party, he became the first opposition politician since Singapore's independence in 1965, when he won Anson SMC in a by-election. 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 presidential eligibility forms was rejected. Application for the Certificate of Eligibility rejected.
Tan Soo PhuanA member of the opposition Workers' Party. He submitted his presidential eligibility forms but were ruled ineligible.

Declined to be candidates

  • Wee Kim Wee — the incumbent and fourth president of Singapore, he decided not to seek re-election and retired after his second term had ended.
  • Chia Shi Teck — he was a nominated Member of Parliament who threw his hat in to help avert an 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 (PAP) 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. One of the assentors for Ong was Halimah Yacob, who would later go on to become the 8th President of Singapore 24 years later.[6]

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, who would later go on to become the 7th President of Singapore 18 years later in 2011. Workers' Party members J. B. Jeyaretnam[7] and Tan Soo Phuan also applied for the 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 in, so that the election would not be an uncontested walkover, and at the same time, the electorate could choose between two good candidates.[8]

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, unconventionally 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, as it is likely that voters who would often not vote for the PAP in general elections settled for Chua.[9]

Results

After polls closed, the Returning Officer Ong Kok Min declared Ong Teng Cheong as Singapore's first president-elect with 58.69% of the valid votes cast at the Singapore Conference Hall.[10]

CandidateVotes%
Ong Teng Cheong952,51358.69
Chua Kim Yeow670,35841.31
Total1,622,871100.00
Valid votes1,622,87197.79
Invalid/blank votes36,6112.21
Total votes1,659,482100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,756,51794.48
Source: Elections Department

References

  1. ↑ Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (1999 Reprint).
  2. ↑ https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Acts-Supp/5-1991/Published/19910125?DocDate=19910125
  3. ↑ Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act (Cap. 167A, 2001 Rev. Ed.).
  4. ↑ Internal Security Act (Cap. 143, 1985 Rev. Ed.).
  5. ↑ Singapore Constitution, above, Art. 163(1).
  6. ↑ "The role of Singapore's Elected President". Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  7. ↑ South China Morning Post, "Voters yearn for real presidential contest, survey finds" p 123, 20 July 1999
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ South China Morning Post, "Voters yearn for real presidential contest, survey finds" p 123, 9 July 1999
  10. ↑ "Returning Officer Ong Kok Min announcing result of the first presidential election at Singapore Conference Hall". www.nas.gov.sg. 28 August 1993. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
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