Incumbent president Sellapan Ramanathan Nathan was named to a second six-year term last month after three would-be contenders were disqualified by a government-appointed three-man committee.

In an interview with the Straits Times, Lee was asked about a previous statement that some of the rules governing presidential elections might be changed.

"We are not going to change the Presidential Elections Committee. They are refinements to the system and they're not glamorous things but improvements, and in due course we will put them up," the prime minister said.

Strict eligibility requirements stipulate that the candidate must either have been a cabinet minister, chief justice, parliamentary speaker, a senior civil servant or an individual who has headed a company with a paid-up capital of at least S$100 million (US$59.6 million).

One of the rejected candidates was 52-year-old Andrew Kuan, a chartered accountant and former financial officer of state-owned industrial landlord JTC Corp.

His disqualification sparked protest from the opposition, and analysts said the move could hurt the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) in parliamentary elections which the prime minister is expected to call in the months ahead.

Postings on various popular Internet forums said that the decision went against government promises of greater political openness, and that it should be left to Singaporeans to decide whether the candidates were qualified by holding an election.

"In no country do you choose a president just by anybody coming forward. You have to have systems which work and this is a system which we have put in to choose a president," Lee said.

"The final round is national, one man one vote, but before that you have the three wise men to make sure the people who present themselves are qualified."

Since the country's independence in 1965, Singapore's presidency has evolved from a purely ceremonial role to an elected office that is empowered to veto government budgets, free detainees held under the city-state's internal security laws and grant clemency to convicted criminals.

The president also has a custodial role in the use of the country's $100 billion reserves.

Nathan's predecessor, Ong Teng Cheong, was openly critical of the government, complaining that information on Singapore's reserves was withheld from him.

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