Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a former deputy prime minister seen as close to Singapore’s political establishment, clinched a landslide victory in the city-state’s first contested presidential election in more than a decade on Friday, comfortably beating two other candidates with a record 70.4% of the vote.
Though Singapore’s presidency is a largely ceremonial role as the non-partisan head of state, analysts widely viewed the contest as a barometer of support for the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), to which Tharman, 66, had belonged for more than two decades before resigning from all party positions and posts in June to be eligible to contest the presidency.
Amid cost-of-living challenges and a slew of recent high-profile scandals implicating PAP leaders, the wide margin of victory for Tharman caught some analysts by surprise. The results have sparked debate as to whether they truly reflect unvarnished public support for the PAP, or are instead a reflection of Tharman’s formidable personal popularity.
“This election is at least in part a referendum on the PAP. Of course, the caveat is that Tharman is more popular than his former party. I think that is undeniable,” said Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, an assistant professor in social sciences at Nanyang Technological University, in reference to Tharman’s past track record of delivering general-election landslides for the PAP in his Jurong constituency.
Amid cost-of-living challenges and a slew of recent high-profile scandals implicating PAP leaders, the wide margin of victory for Tharman caught some analysts by surprise. The results have sparked debate as to whether they truly reflect unvarnished public support for the PAP, or are instead a reflection of Tharman’s formidable personal popularity.
“This election is at least in part a referendum on the PAP. Of course, the caveat is that Tharman is more popular than his former party. I think that is undeniable,” said Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, an assistant professor in social sciences at Nanyang Technological University, in reference to Tharman’s past track record of delivering general-election landslides for the PAP in his Jurong constituency.
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Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.
