Who wants to be the next Malay President of Singapore?

You can apply for the first reserved Presidential Election (PE) for minorities from tomorrow onwards.

On June 1, 2017, you can start applying for your Certificates of Eligibility and Community Certificates to the Presidential Elections Committee and the Community Committee.

This heralds the official start of the election process which would most likely not culminate in an election slated to be held later in September.

Dearth of private sector potential candidates

Application forms can be obtained from the Elections Department website and office, and applicants will be notified of the outcome before Nomination Day.

The application period will close on the 5th day after the Writ of Election is issued in August 2017.

For Singaporeans who are still interested follow closely the developments in the Elected Presidency, one wonders about the potential candidates emerging from a limited pool of qualified indviduals.

Last month, the appointment of Bank of Singapore chief executive Bahren Shaari from the private sector as an alternate member to the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) had further reduced that pool, raising the probability of a walkover or a face-off between two or more pro-establishment candidates from the public sector.

Within the notices about The Presidential Election in the Government Gazette on May 31 contained yet another interesting detail that further hinted at the likely scenario above.

The Presidential Elections Committee includes:

Eddie Teo (Chairman of the Public Service Commission)

Lim Soo Hoon (Chairman of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority)

Professor Chan Heng Chee (Member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights)

Po'ad Bin Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar (Member of the Council of Presidential Advisors)

Justice Tay Yong Kwang (Judge of Appeal)

Peter Seah Lim Huat (Member from the private sector appointed by the Prime Minister)

Yes, Po'ad Bin Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar.

The 68-year-old former accountant had been touted by the media last year as one of the potential contenders for this election, but has never expressed any interest in running.

Based on the latest announcement he will be a member of the PEC for the next 6 years.

Who is Po'ad?

According to the Istana website:

Po'ad Mattar was appointed a Member of the Council of Presidential Advisers on 2 January 2007.

He holds a Bachelor of Accountancy Degree from the University of Singapore and a Master in Management Degree from the Asian Institute of Management, Makati, Philippines...

Po'ad Mattar had worked in the public accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche and its predecessor firms. Over the years, he had held various positions before becoming the Senior Partner of Deloitte & Touche in 2002. He retired from this position on 28 February 2006.

This means that while his corporate experience had been more than 10 years ago, he could still be considered under the deliberative track for private sector candidates.

It's still you-know-who as front runner

With Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim ruling himself out, and 4G cabinet member, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli highly unlikely to run, the road to the Istana seems to be paved for Halimah Yacob, the Speaker of Parliament, and the minority race member of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

Currently, former Minister and former Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi remains the most likely candidate that may emerge to challenge Halimah.

He was part of the nine-member Constitutional Commission that reviewed the Elected Presidency and introduced the reserved election, and had earlier told The Straits Times that he "has not given it serious consideration",

As what Associate Professor Eugene Tan at the Singapore Management University School of Law says, "(S)ince it is important for Singaporeans to get to know the presidential hopefuls as well as they can, prospective candidates ought to flag their intentions to contest sooner rather than later."

Given that there will no parliament sitting in June, it may well be the perfect time for Halimah to resign from her seat and indicate her intent in running for the Presidency.

And for Abdullah, it could well work in his favour to declare early his intentions to run.

This will help inject some excitement to the PE.

And give us an extra public holiday for doing our duty as voters.

Top photo from via Icemoon Flickr

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