Presidential hopeful George Goh aims to qualify under clause that gives elections committee discretion
PRESIDENTIAL hopeful George Goh has been advised that “the stable of companies which he manages, taken together, would enable him to qualify” under Article 19(4)(b) of the Constitution, his media team said in a statement on Thursday (Jun 15).
This is separate from Article 19(4)(a), which requires a candidate to have served at least three years as chief executive of a company with at least S$500 million in shareholder equity.
Rather, the candidate must have served at least three years in the private sector, and the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) must be satisfied that they have “experience and ability that is comparable” to someone fulfilling Article 19(4)(a). This is “having regard to the nature of the office, the size and complexity of the private-sector organisation and the person’s performance in the office”.
The committee must also be satisfied that the person is able to effectively carry out the functions and duties of the office of president.
Goh’s media team said the assessment of Goh’s eligibility is based on a team of professionals he put together, including lawyers. In a previous release, Goh’s companies were said to have a “collective market capitalisation value of S$3.15 billion”.
“Goh did not enter the contest on a whim,” said his media team. “It was a decision made seven years ago after he saw that changes to the Constitution stacked the chances against a private-sector candidate, especially businessmen, contesting the election.”
“Goh is mindful that it is up to the PEC to decide his eligibility and he will not publicly disclose further details of his case beyond the comments above,” they added.
Goh is the co-founder and chairman of mainboard-listed footwear, sports and fashion retailer Ossia International – which is on the Singapore Exchange watchlist – as well as the deputy chairman of investment company Pertama.
Over 40 years of entrepreneurship, he has owned a number of companies, among which seven have been publicly listed in Singapore, Australia and the UK, his official website stated. He also co-founded Harvey Norman Ossia, as well as water treatment company United Envirotech, which was later acquired by a consortium.
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