Mr Tan reiterated that he is an “independent” candidate while Mr Tharman and Mr Ng “represent the establishment candidate”.
He said he believes voters strongly prefer an “independent” candidate, adding: “I believe that that proportion will probably be more than half, so I stand a very good chance.
“Because I’m reaching out to people who say they want to have an independent president who can be independent of the ruling government and see things from a different perspective.”
Mr Tan previously said he would step aside if Mr Goh qualified as he did not want to split the votes of Singaporeans who prefer an “independent” candidate.
On Friday, he said that he had expected a two-way or three-way contest all along.
He said he was “personally disappointed” that Mr Goh did not qualify for the election, but believes the votes from Mr Goh’s supporters will come to him instead.
“When Mr Goh is no more in the contest, I will be likely to get (the) majority of those votes of people who want an independent president. The votes will not be split. Therefore I’m very confident that this very large segment will support me.”
He added: “My aim is to also reach out to the middle ground. They sometimes vote for the current establishment, sometimes they don’t. That middle ground is very important to me.”
The eligible candidates will next have to submit their nomination papers on Aug 22. If more than one candidate is nominated, Polling Day will take place on Sep 1.