Anger as Singapore gets first female president without a vote

Singapore’s new president-elect Halimah Yacob (R) greets her supporters at the nomination centre in Singapore on September 13, 2017. An establishment stalwart was named Singapore’s first female president on September 13 but the milestone was overshadowed by criticism her selection was undemocratic after she was handed the job without a vote. / AFP PHOTO / ROSLAN RAHMAN

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,” 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 President Donald Trump.

‘President for everyone’

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 colour supposed to symbolise 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 which 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 September 23.

Two were quickly eliminated as they were not Malay. The two others, Malay businessmen, were disqualified on 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 will be inaugurated in a ceremony on Thursday.