Hold the polls: Sole choice is (s)elected Singapore's new president

ASIAWEEK. September 3, 1999
By JONATHAN SPRAGUE

AL GORE MUST BE eating his heart out. While the US vice president faces a tough fight to win the election for the top job next year, in Singapore, the government-nominated candidate will take office on Sept. 1 as the island republic's next "elected" head of state without a vote. Not that S.R. Nathan isn't worthy. The 75-year-old former civil servant began his long government career as a social worker and worked his way up to top positions including director of intelligence and ambassador to Washington. Still, circumstances make Nathan's victory ring a bit hollow - just when the job is becoming increasingly important and contentious.

Part of those circumstances arise from strict rules laying out who can run. A candidate must prove to the presidential election committee that he or she is "a person of good integrity, character and reputation" and has held a top government position or a private sector job equivalent to running a company with paid-up capital of $60 million. That ruled out Nathan's only rivals, a private tutor and the head of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. If another candidate had been approved, a popular vote would have been held on Aug. 28. Confirmed as president-elect without a single ballot cast, Nathan put a brave face on his victory. "This places on me an even heavier responsibility to discharge my duties without diffidence," he said of being returned unopposed.

The other part comes from the puzzling cloud over the departure of Nathan's predecessor, Ong Teng Cheong. The presidency used to be largely ceremonial, a parliamentary appointment. Then in 1991 it became an elected position with the authority to oversee key government appointments and Singapore's vast reserves, estimated at nearly $75 billion. Ong, a respected stalwart of the ruling People's Action Party, became the republic's first elected head of state in 1993. But last month, despite earlier hinting that he wanted a second term, Ong said he would not stand again and described rocky relations with the rest of government with unusual frankness.

So it is almost a pity that Nathan did not have to triumph over any rivals. (A Straits Times opinion poll before his confirmation found that nearly four of five Singaporeans wanted a contest.) Of course his resumé is impeccable. Far from a mere bureaucratic seat warmer, officials laud Nathan as "battle-tested," especially for his role in ending the hijacking of an oil tanker in 1974. His Indian ethnicity in Chinese-majority Singapore is also a plus when ethnic tensions are boiling over in Indonesia and may be simmering in Malaysia. "It's time to remind Singaporeans, to have a symbol of a multiracial community, an expression of our identity," says Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Circumstances may have conspired to make Nathan look like the safe choice for the government. "Nathan has been around and is a likable guy," says historian Jim Baker. "If you look at the posts he has held you can tell that he's well tested as a man who can work with the present leadership." Good relations with the leadership are necessary given that the Singapore presidency's new role is still being worked out, but so is the independent streak shown by Ong. It will be up to Nathan to show that he is president not just for the government but for the people.