SINGAPORE: Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Monday (Aug 28) that labelling candidates by their political affiliations is an “extremely simplistic” thinking that would have ruled out many past presidential candidates from a contest, and even senior civil servants who worked under politicians.
Mr Tharman was speaking during a forum that was broadcast live on CNA.
He and the other two presidential candidates – Mr Ng Kok Song and Mr Tan Kin Lian – were asked about their impartiality, with host and CNA presenter Otelli Edwards noting that each of the three is either linked to the establishment, the ruling party of the opposition.
“How can you convince voters you will exercise your powers without fear or favour, for the good of Singapore?” she asked.
Mr Tharman, who was a former Senior Minister, said that the presidential contest should be about the individuals who are running, their character and their track record.
“If we go with a label of whether you’ve been a member of a political party or not. I think that’s extremely simplistic,” he said, adding that this would have ruled out former presidents Ong Teng Cheong and Tony Tan, as well as past presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock.
It would also rule out people who may not be members of a political party but who are senior civil servants who “owe their positions to bosses who are political figures”.
“Are they obligated to their bosses because of that? Not necessarily – it depends on the individual,” Mr Tharman said.
“Let’s say you have a private company, you have a construction company that depends on government contracts. Or you have a fund management company that depends on government monies. Does that make you not independent? Not necessarily. It depends on your character, your track record,” he continued.
“So I would say avoid the simple labels, make this a contest between individuals. Do they have a spine? Do they have the track record?”