SINGAPORE – From June, presidential hopefuls may start applying for the necessary certificate of eligibility and community certificate in order to contest in the coming Presidential Election (PE).
The Presidential Elections Act states that the application period for a certificate of eligibility starts three months before the end of the incumbent President’s term. Dr Tony Tan’s term of office ends on Aug 31. Speaking in Parliament during the second reading of the amendments to the Act on Monday (Feb 6), Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing said that under the proposed changes, applicants will have up to five days – up from three days currently – after the writ of election is issued to submit their applications to the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC). This is to give prospective candidates more time to prepare their applications, he said.
Applicants will have to concurrently submit a community declaration to a newly-set up Community Committee to certify their ethnicity. Their application to contest in the PE can be rejected if they fail to submit an application with either the PEC or the Community Committee. Both committees will have at least 10 days after the writ is issued to assess the applications. Applicants will be informed of the outcome before Nomination Day.
The 16-member Community Committee will consist of a chairman and five members each from the Chinese, Malay, Indian or other minority communities, all of whom will be appointed by the Prime Minister on nomination of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights. The five members belonging to the different communities will make up the respective sub-committees.
An applicant has to first declare whether or not he belongs to one of the three major communities. Then, he would be issued a community certification if the respective sub-committee is satisfied that the applicants belongs to the particular community. Mr Chan noted that an “inclusion” approach will be adopted. “(It) should be to welcome and embrace individuals who identify themselves with a particular community. This would apply, for example, in cases where declarants are of mixed-race parentage and have significant links with the communities of both parents,” he said.
The arrangement is similar to the approach under the Parliamentary Elections Act to determine whether a potential candidate contesting in a Group Representation Constituency belongs to the minority groups. “The method of certifying race through community committees has worked well for our GRC system; it should similarly serve us well in the Presidential Elections,” said Mr Chan.
In a reserved election, such as the coming Presidential Election, the committee will only accept declarations of applicants belonging to the community for which the election is reserved for. The declarations are also necessary in an open election because the hiatus-triggered model requires that the ethnicity of each President be documented, said Mr Chan. In an open election, a presidential hopeful can run for elections even if he does not receive a community certificate and meets the other eligibility criteria.
