Tharman to stand in Singapore’s next presidential election
SENIOR Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has announced that he will be running in Singapore’s next presidential election.
“I wish to inform you that I have decided to put myself forward as a candidate in the forthcoming presidential election. I hence wish to retire from politics and all my positions in government,” said Tharman, 66, who is also Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, in a letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday (Jun 8).
Tharman will resign from the ruling People’s Action Party and step down from his Cabinet positions on Jul 7 to fulfil his official commitments in Singapore and internationally.
He will make arrangements to ensure that Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC), where he is its anchor minister, will be well-served for the rest of the electoral term; he will also step down from all other responsibilities undertaken in his ministerial capacity.
In his reply, PM Lee thanked Tharman for his “distinguished service to Singapore” and wished him success in his new journey.
“Your departure from the Cabinet and the party will be a heavy loss to me and my team. We will miss your leadership, insightful views and wise counsel,” wrote PM Lee.
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“But I understand why you have decided to make this move and run for president. It is in keeping with the spirit of public service and sense of duty that you have shown all these years.”
Singapore’s next presidential election is due by mid-September and is an open election, meaning that it is open to candidates of all races.
Speaking to the media on Thursday evening, Tharman said that many Singaporeans have been asking him to run for president, should President Halimah Yacob not run for a second term. The latter recently confirmed that she will not seek re-election.
After thinking hard about it in recent months, he chose to stand in the next election, in part due to “the way the international environment was changing”, Tharman said.
“What’s truly worrying is what’s happening internationally… It is a fundamentally more uncertain environment, very likely to be more fractured, but fundamentally more uncertain,” he said. “The world is now set up for crises.”
Amid these uncertain times, a strong system of governance is needed to ensure trust, said Tharman, adding: “If our system of governance falls apart, there’s no check on the government being able to draw on the reserves or appointing its own people willy nilly.”
Asked what he hopes to achieve, if he is eventually elected, Tharman said he hopes to play a unifying role for Singapore.
“I offer myself partly because, through my background, everyone knows who I am, and they know I have an independent streak,” he said.
In his letter to PM Lee, Tharman said he has spent his working life “committed to the public service and advancing Singapore’s interest”. But in looking towards the future, he believes he can best serve Singapore not in politics, but in “a different role that has to be above politics”.
“I will be thorough and impartial in fulfilling the constitutional duties of the president with regard to the prudent use of the nation’s reserves and the key appointments which preserve the integrity of the Singapore system,” he said.
Lifelong career in public service
Prior to entering politics, Tharman spent most of his professional career at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). An economist by background, he served in many roles, including a two-year term as the MAS’ managing director in 2001.
He made his political debut at the 2001 General Election, as a candidate for Jurong GRC. Since then, he has been re-elected to Parliament four times.
He was first appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Education in 2003, and held the post until 2008. He was Finance Minister from 2007 to 2015, and Manpower Minister in 2011 and 2012.
In 2011, Tharman was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, and became Senior Minister in 2019. He was also appointed Coordinating Minister for Social Policies in the same year to advise the prime minister on economic policies.
Tharman has been MAS chairman since 2011, and the deputy chairman of GIC in 2019. He currently chairs the Economic Development Board’s International Advisory Council, which convenes annually to discuss economic growth strategies for Singapore.
On the global stage, Tharman has served in several international councils focused on economic and financial reform. He was chair of the Group of Thirty, an independent global council of economic and financial leaders from the public and private sectors, between 2017 and 2022.
He was previously appointed by his international peers as chairman of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the key policy forum of the International Monetary Fund. He was its first Asian chair, and held the role for four years from 2011.
His other notable international appointments include co-chair of the advisory board for the United Nations’ Human Development Report, co-chair of the Global Education Forum, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Board of Trustees.
Aside from Tharman, no other presidential hopefuls have announced their bid so far.
On Thursday, labour chief Ng Chee Meng welcomed Tharman’s decision to run for president, calling him a “distinguished statesman with a caring heart for our workers and union leaders”.
“His incredible vision and wisdom, coupled with a certain unassuming sense of warmth and humility, has benefited union leaders and workers far and wide in the past few decades,” said the National Trades Union Congress secretary-general.
Asked by reporters about who will take over his MP duties, Tharman said his fellow Jurong GRC MP Shawn Huang will oversee his meet-the-people sessions, while the other MPs will take turns to cover events and other matters.
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