As soon as the result of Singapore's Presidential Election was announced, we heard voices that questioned the representatives of a weak president.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tony Tan, who is deemed as the candidate anointed by the ruling party, narrowly won the election of the seventh president of Singapore with 35.19 percent of votes (744,397 votes) after a tough see-saw battle. Former member of parliament, Dr Tan Cheng Bock (some rumors said he was backed by the Goh Chok Tong's faction in the People's Action Party (PAP) garnered 34.85 percent of the popular votes (737,128 votes). Tony Tan won the election only by a majority of 0.34 percent (7,269 votes)!
Tan Jee Say, who was initially seen as the biggest competitor of Tony Tan, secured 25.04 percent of votes (529,732 votes); whereas Tan Kin Lian, who was regarded as the weakest candidate, only managed to gain 4.91 percent of votes (103,931 votes).
After the result was announced, some posted comments in the Internet, saying that should Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian have not run in this election, Tony Tan would have become the second George Yeo. There were also sarcastic remarks in the Internet such as "Congratulations to Tony Tan for his embarrassing election as the President with 744,459 votes from a population of 5 million". Some also insinuated that Tony Tan won the election because of votes from "immigrants."
It is indeed embarrassing that Tony Tan only won by less than 1 percent majority considering that dozens of trade unions and clan associations had openly shown their supports to him and that he had the "blessing" from PAP. This is not only a blow to the personal prestige of this "president of all people," it is also another shock to PAP after the general elections in May.
Setback to PAP
The general elections in May 2011 have been described as an important watershed in the history of Singaporean politics. PAP only managed to secure 60 percent of the popular votes and lost a Group Representation Constituency for the very first time. Despite it all, public opinion still believed that more than 40 percent of the electorate should be PAP hardcore supporters. But judging from the result of this presidential election, PAP hardcore supporters might have dropped to about 35 percent only. This is undoubtedly another political setback to PAP. On contrary, this is a great motivation to the opposition.
Moreover, there were as many as 37,826 spoilt votes recorded in this presidential election. The number of spoilt votes is five times more than the 7,269 majority votes secured by Tony Tan! This has also made the election of Tony Tan even less convincing. Why did so many voters give up their chances to create a history of Singapore? This is another matter worthy of being studied.
Significant Change
Although the Singaporean government has deliberately kept a distance from the presidential election and repeatedly stressed that the president is beyond politics, this intensely competitive presidential election has obviously brought about many surprising changes to the country's politics.
Among others, the most significant change is that the Singaporean voters have become more strong-minded. They are brave enough to challenge the authority of the authoritarian political leaders and to oppose to the conservative political system. These changes have given birth to a new landscape of the Singapore-style democracy. Singapore has now entered into a more competitive new era with more possibilities!
Former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tony Tan, who is deemed as the candidate anointed by the ruling party, narrowly won the election of the seventh president of Singapore with 35.19 percent of votes (744,397 votes) after a tough see-saw battle. Former member of parliament, Dr Tan Cheng Bock (some rumors said he was backed by the Goh Chok Tong's faction in the People's Action Party (PAP) garnered 34.85 percent of the popular votes (737,128 votes). Tony Tan won the election only by a majority of 0.34 percent (7,269 votes)!
Tan Jee Say, who was initially seen as the biggest competitor of Tony Tan, secured 25.04 percent of votes (529,732 votes); whereas Tan Kin Lian, who was regarded as the weakest candidate, only managed to gain 4.91 percent of votes (103,931 votes).
After the result was announced, some posted comments in the Internet, saying that should Tan Jee Say and Tan Kin Lian have not run in this election, Tony Tan would have become the second George Yeo. There were also sarcastic remarks in the Internet such as "Congratulations to Tony Tan for his embarrassing election as the President with 744,459 votes from a population of 5 million". Some also insinuated that Tony Tan won the election because of votes from "immigrants."
It is indeed embarrassing that Tony Tan only won by less than 1 percent majority considering that dozens of trade unions and clan associations had openly shown their supports to him and that he had the "blessing" from PAP. This is not only a blow to the personal prestige of this "president of all people," it is also another shock to PAP after the general elections in May.
Setback to PAP
The general elections in May 2011 have been described as an important watershed in the history of Singaporean politics. PAP only managed to secure 60 percent of the popular votes and lost a Group Representation Constituency for the very first time. Despite it all, public opinion still believed that more than 40 percent of the electorate should be PAP hardcore supporters. But judging from the result of this presidential election, PAP hardcore supporters might have dropped to about 35 percent only. This is undoubtedly another political setback to PAP. On contrary, this is a great motivation to the opposition.
Moreover, there were as many as 37,826 spoilt votes recorded in this presidential election. The number of spoilt votes is five times more than the 7,269 majority votes secured by Tony Tan! This has also made the election of Tony Tan even less convincing. Why did so many voters give up their chances to create a history of Singapore? This is another matter worthy of being studied.
Significant Change
Although the Singaporean government has deliberately kept a distance from the presidential election and repeatedly stressed that the president is beyond politics, this intensely competitive presidential election has obviously brought about many surprising changes to the country's politics.
Among others, the most significant change is that the Singaporean voters have become more strong-minded. They are brave enough to challenge the authority of the authoritarian political leaders and to oppose to the conservative political system. These changes have given birth to a new landscape of the Singapore-style democracy. Singapore has now entered into a more competitive new era with more possibilities!
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