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Presidency · Presiden · 总统 · அதிபர்

Six years,
a second key.

Since 1993 Singaporeans have elected their President directly. Candidates must pass some of the strictest eligibility tests of any elected office, and in three of six elections only one candidate qualified, who was returned unopposed on Nomination Day.

6elections since 1993

3uncontested

1reserved (2017, Malay)

13 Sep 2029current term ends

Every presidential election

The results.

  1. 2023 Polling Day 1 September 2023 · 2,709,407 electors · turnout 93.55%
    • Tharman Shanmugaratnam elected 70.41% 1,749,261
    • Ng Kok Song 15.72% 390,636
    • Tan Kin Lian 13.87% 344,584

    2,484,481 valid votes · 50,230 rejected · 1,299 spoilt ballot papers replaced

  2. 2017 Uncontested Reserved for Malay candidates Declared on Nomination Day 13 September 2017 · 2,516,608 electors
    • Halimah Yacob elected No poll —
  3. 2011 Polling Day 27 August 2011 · 2,274,773 electors · turnout 94.80%
    • Tony Tan Keng Yam elected 35.20% 745,693
    • Tan Cheng Bock 34.85% 738,311
    • Tan Jee Say 25.04% 530,441
    • Tan Kin Lian 4.91% 104,095

    2,118,540 valid votes · 37,849 rejected · 441 spoilt ballot papers replaced

  4. 2005 Uncontested Declared on Nomination Day 17 August 2005 · 2,113,540 electors
    • S R Nathan elected No poll —
  5. 1999 Uncontested Declared on Nomination Day 18 August 1999 · 1,967,984 electors
    • S R Nathan elected No poll —
  6. 1993 Polling Day 28 August 1993 · 1,756,517 electors · turnout 94.48%
    • Ong Teng Cheong elected 58.69% 952,513
    • Chua Kim Yeow 41.31% 670,358

    1,622,871 valid votes · 36,611 rejected · 355 spoilt ballot papers replaced

Turnout = valid and rejected votes over electors. Contains information from the Elections Department's datasets on data.gov.sg, made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0 (https://data.gov.sg/open-data-licence). Supplements are facts from eld.gov.sg.

Contains information from Presidential Election Results and Registered Electors, Rejected Votes and Spoilt Ballots accessed on 6 November 2026 from data.gov.sg which is made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0.

Art. 19 · Presidential Elections Committee

Who may stand.

  • A citizen, at least 45 years old, who meets the qualifications for an MP (Art. 44(2)(c)–(d)), including ten years' residence in Singapore.
  • Not a member of any political party on Nomination Day.
  • Of integrity, good character and reputation, as the Presidential Elections Committee judges.
  • Public-sector route: three years or more as Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Auditor-General, Accountant-General or Permanent Secretary, or as chief executive of a Fifth Schedule statutory board or government company.
  • Private-sector route: three years or more as chief executive of a company with at least S$500 million in shareholders' equity on average, profitable after tax over the period.
  • The qualifying service must fall within the 20 years before the writ; the S$500 million figure is reviewed at least every 12 years.

Presidential Elections Committee

Six members: the Chairman of the Public Service Commission (chair), the Chairman of ACRA, a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, a current or former member of the Council of Presidential Advisers, a person qualified to be a Supreme Court judge nominated by the Chief Justice, and a private-sector expert nominated by the Prime Minister. It certifies who meets the integrity and service tests; on those questions its decision is final and cannot be challenged in court (Art. 18(12)).

Community Committee

Sixteen people: a chairperson and five members from each of the Chinese, Malay and Indian or other minority communities, appointed by the Prime Minister on the nomination of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights (PrEA s.8E). Its sub-committees issue the community certificates that every candidate needs to state which community they belong to; in a reserved election only a candidate certified as belonging to that community may stand.

Deposit and spending

Deposit three times the parliamentary one (S$40,500 in 2023), lost with one-eighth of the votes or less (PrEA s.10). Spending limit: the greater of $600,000 and 30 cents per elector, S$812,822.10 in 2023 (s.50). Money in elections →

Eligibility checker · Art. 19

A sketch of the tests. The Presidential Elections Committee decides, and its decision is final.

The person
The service

Automatic track

    The listed offices and Fifth Schedule bodies

    Art. 19(3)(a): Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Auditor-General, Accountant-General, Permanent Secretary.

    Fifth Schedule: Central Provident Fund Board, Housing and Development Board, Jurong Town Corporation, Monetary Authority of Singapore, GIC Private Limited, Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited.

    Art. 19B · since 2017

    The reserved election.

    An election is reserved for candidates of one community (Chinese; Malay; Indian or other minority) when no one from that community has held the office for the five most recent terms (Art. 19B, from the 2016 amendments).

    Counting from Wee Kim Wee

    Parliament specified that the count begins with Wee Kim Wee's last term (1989–1993), the first in which a President exercised the elected presidency's powers, and listed the terms in the Schedule to the Presidential Elections Act. Dr Tan Cheng Bock challenged the starting point, arguing it should be Ong Teng Cheong's term as the first popularly elected President; the High Court ([2017] SGHC 160) and the Court of Appeal ([2017] SGCA 50) dismissed the challenge, holding that Parliament could choose the first counted term.

    2017 and after

    2017: reserved for Malay candidates. The Presidential Elections Committee found only Halimah Yacob eligible; she was declared elected unopposed on Nomination Day, 13 September 2017, and sworn in on 14 September. With Halimah Yacob (Malay) and Tharman Shanmugaratnam (Indian) in the window, the 2023 election was open, and the one due in 2029 is open too.

    The hiatus-triggered model · try the future

    Each block is a counted term. The window is the five most recent. A community missing from all five gets the next election reserved for it.

    1. 1989 Wee Kim Wee Chinese
    2. 1993 Ong Teng Cheong Chinese
    3. 1999 S R Nathan Indian or other
    4. 2005 S R Nathan Indian or other
    5. 2011 Tony Tan Keng Yam Chinese
    6. 2017 Halimah Yacob Malay
    7. 2023 Tharman Shanmugaratnam Indian or other

    Who wins the next election (2029)?

    Open election: every community has held the office within the last five terms.

    Terms counted by law: the Schedule to the Presidential Elections Act starts with Wee Kim Wee's last term, as Parliament chose and the Court of Appeal upheld. If a reserved election wholly fails (no one is nominated), the next community in line follows, then elections are open until someone is elected (PrEA s.5B). Future terms are assumed to run six years.

    Heads of state since independence

    Nine presidents.

    1. 9. 14 Sep 2023 – today

      Tharman Shanmugaratnam

      Elected 1 September 2023 against Ng Kok Song (15.72%) and Tan Kin Lian (13.87%); turnout 93.55%.

    2. 8. 14 Sep 2017 – 13 Sep 2023

      Halimah Yacob

      First reserved election (Malay candidates); elected unopposed on 13 September 2017.

    3. 7. 1 Sep 2011 – 31 Aug 2017

      Tony Tan Keng Yam

      Elected 27 August 2011 in a four-way contest, narrowly ahead of Tan Cheng Bock (34.85%).

    4. 6. 1 Sep 1999 – 31 Aug 2011

      S R Nathan

      Elected unopposed in 1999 and 2005 (the only eligible candidate both times).

    5. 5. 1 Sep 1993 – 31 Aug 1999

      Ong Teng Cheong

      First popularly elected President, 28 August 1993, against Chua Kim Yeow.

    6. 4. 30 Aug 1985 – 31 Aug 1993

      Wee Kim Wee

      Elected by Parliament; from 1991 exercised the new custodial powers.

    7. 3. 23 Oct 1981 – 28 Mar 1985

      Devan Nair

      Elected by Parliament; resigned (end date not confirmed on the Istana page).

    8. 2. 2 Jan 1971 – 12 May 1981

      Benjamin Sheares

      Elected by Parliament; died in office.

    9. 1. 9 Aug 1965 – 23 Nov 1970

      Yusof Ishak

      Yang di-Pertuan Negara from 3 December 1959; President at independence; re-appointed on 4 December 1967; died in office.

    Presidents 1 to 4 were elected by Parliament; the office became popularly elected in 1991.

    Photos: Tharman Shanmugaratnam — Mohd Fyrol Anwar Aziz Marican, Lim Sin Thai, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ng Kok Song — Robert Sim, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tony Tan Keng Yam — Presidencia de la República, CC BY 2.0 · Tan Cheng Bock — Tdxiang (Tan Ding Xiang) ., CC BY-SA 3.0 · S R Nathan — Calvin Teo, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ong Teng Cheong — Víctor Bugge, CC BY 2.0 · Devan Nair — John Robert Cornell of Collaboration Journal of Integral Yoga, PDM-owner . Others public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.