Halimah Yacob did not have to face an election after authorities decided her rivals did not meet strict eligibility criteria
Halimah Yacob became Singapore’s first female president after her two rivals failed to qualify. Photograph: Wallace Woon/EPA
An establishment stalwart has been named Singapore’s first female president but the milestone was overshadowed by criticism that her selection was undemocratic after she was handed the job without a vote.
Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay minority, did not have to face an election for the largely ceremonial post after authorities decided her rivals did not meet strict eligibility criteria.
It was not the first time in the affluent city-state – which is tightly controlled and has been ruled by the same party for decades – that the government has disqualified candidates for the presidency, making an election unnecessary.
But there had already been criticism of the process as it was the first time the presidency had been reserved for a particular ethnic group – in this case the Malay community – and the decision to hand her the job without a vote added to anger.
Social media was abuzz with criticism as Halimah, 63, was formally announced as the president-elect, with Facebook user Pat Eng writing: “Elected without an election. What a joke.”
“I will call her President Select from now on,” said Joel Kong on the networking site, while some posts were marked with the hashtag #NotMyPresident – echoing the message used by upset Americans after the election of Donald Trump.
Halimah, a member of parliament for the ruling People’s Action Party for nearly two decades before resigning to contest the presidency, tackled the doubts about the selection process in a speech to a cheering crowd after she was named president-elect.
“I’m a president for everyone. Although there’s no election, my commitment to serve you remains the same,” she said.
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Singapore gets first female president, but without a vote
Singapore's ex-speaker of parliament, Halimah Yacob, arrives with her husband to submit her presidential nomination papers in the city-state Wednesday. | REUTERS
SINGAPORE – Singapore got its first female president Wednesday, but the milestone was overshadowed by criticism that her selection was undemocratic after she was handed the job without a vote.
Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay minority, did not have to face an election for the largely ceremonial post after authorities decided her rivals did not meet eligibility criteria.
It was not the first time in the affluent city-state — which is tightly controlled and has been ruled by the same party for decades — that the government has disqualified presidential candidates, making an election unnecessary.
But there was already unease about the process as it was the first time that the presidency had been reserved for a particular race, in this case the Malay community. The decision to hand her the job without an election added to the anger.
Social media was abuzz with criticism as Halimah, a bespectacled 63-year-old who wears a headscarf, was formally announced as president-elect, with Facebook user Pat Eng writing: “Elected without an election. What a joke.”
“I will call her President Select from now on,” Joel Kong wrote on the social-networking site, while some posts were marked with the hashtag #NotMyPresident — echoing the message used by upset Americans after the election of President Donald Trump.
Halimah was a member of parliament for the ruling People’s Action Party for nearly two decades before resigning to contest the presidency. She addressed the concerns about the selection process after being named president-elect.
“I’m a president for everyone. Although there’s no election, my commitment to serve you remains the same,” she said.
Halimah added she would “start working immediately” to bring the country together.
She also insisted her status as Singapore’s first female president was “not just tokenism,” in a speech to a cheering crowd while wearing orange, a color supposed to symbolize unity.
“Every woman can aspire to the highest office in the land when you have the courage, determination and will to work hard,” she said.
Singapore’s head of state has limited powers, including vetoing senior official appointments. But an establishment figure has always held the role and there are rarely tensions with the government.
Authorities decided to allow only candidates from the Malay community to put themselves forward for the presidency to foster harmony in the city-state of 5.5 million people that is dominated by ethnic Chinese, and give more opportunities to minorities.
Halimah is the first Malay president of Singapore for almost five decades. The last was Yusof Ishak, president from 1965 to 1970, the first years of the city-state’s independence.
But the decision to limit candidates to one race had caused concern, including among Malays, as it was seen as positive discrimination that ran counter to the city-state’s traditional meritocratic principles.
Five people had originally put their names forward for the presidency and the government had scheduled an election for Sept. 23.
Two were quickly eliminated as they were not Malay. The two others, Malay businessmen, were disqualified Monday as their companies were smaller than required by strict new eligibility rules introduced last year.
Halimah automatically qualified as she has held public office. She was to be inaugurated at a ceremony Thursday.
Source: The Japan Times