Singapore's president holds a second key to the national savings
Singapore's head of state is mostly ceremonial, yet since 1991 the office has carried an unusual power: the elected president can block any budget that dips into reserves built up by earlier governments. The idea grew from one opposition by-election win in 1981 and a prime minister's worry about a freak result.
When Singapore gained full internal self-government from Britain in 1959, it created a ceremonial post called Yang di-Pertuan Negara, Lord of the State, first held by the outgoing governor William Goode. After separation from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, a presidency replaced it, formally created that December and backdated. Yusof Ishak, the last holder of the old title, became the first president. Parliament chose presidents in those decades, and real power sat with the Cabinet under the prime minister, in keeping with the Westminster model.
The turning point came in 1981, when J. B. Jeyaretnam of the Workers' Party won the Anson by-election, the People's Action Party's first electoral setback in nearly twenty years. Lee Kuan Yew fretted that a freak election could hand opponents unfettered access to the reserves. In January 1991 Parliament amended the constitution so that the president would be chosen by popular vote under strict eligibility rules and could veto spending of past reserves, after mandatory consultation with a Council of Presidential Advisers. The president also gained a say over top appointments such as Chief Justice and Commissioner of Police.
Ong Teng Cheong, a former deputy prime minister, won the first popular vote in 1993, though the government counts his predecessor Wee Kim Wee as the first elected president because he exercised the new powers; a court challenge by Tan Cheng Bock failed. S. R. Nathan, the oldest to take office, was returned unopposed twice. A 2016 amendment created reserved elections for any ethnic community without a president in the previous five terms, and Halimah Yacob, as sole eligible candidate, became the first woman in the role in 2017.
The office has no term limits and must stay above party politics. Tharman Shanmugaratnam took office on 14 September 2023 with 70.41 percent of the vote. Beyond reserves, the president receives ambassadors, opens parliamentary sessions with a speech drafted by the Cabinet, and serves as chancellor of two national universities. S. R. Nathan's President's Challenge charity drive had raised more than 100 million Singapore dollars by 2011.
Source: President of Singapore
