Could Tan Kin Lian participate in the upcoming presidential elections?

Tan, the ex-Chief Executive Officer of NTUC Income, ran during the 2011 Presidential Election.

He battled three other candidates, Tan Cheng Bock, Tan Jee Say and Tony Tan.

Tan came in last of all the Tans and was the only one who lost his S$48,000 deposit as he could not get enough votes. Tony Tan won and became President.

Tan said he submitted application

In a Facebook post on Jul. 30, Tan claimed he submitted his application for the "Certificate of Eligibility" three weeks ago.

"The other candidates probably have not submitted yet," Tan wrote.

In a comment on the Facebook post, he wrote: "I applied for the application form online and my principal election agent submitted the completed form as my proxy."

Candidates who intend to stand in the elections must apply for a Certificate of Eligibility to the Presidential Elections Committee.

The Certificate of Eligibility will be issued to the applicant if the PEC is satisfied that:

• The applicant is a person of integrity, good character, and reputation;
• And the applicant meets the relevant public sector or private sector service requirements.

The PEC is chaired by Lee Tzu Yang, chairman of the Public Service Commission.

Those who wish to apply for the certificate of eligibility can use the digital services for candidates on ELD's website to prepare the application form.

The application form must then be printed out and submitted to ELD together with all the supporting documents within the stipulated deadline.

Dropping hints

Tan did not specifically state that this certificate was for the presidential election. He did not use the word 'president' or 'presidential' in that Facebook post or comment.

However, at around the same time, Tan made another Facebook post, estimating that his chances of winning the presidential election against former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is "probably 10 per cent".

Then an hour before that, Tan made another post saying that if "Singaporeans vote for me as president, I will work with the government to bring down the cost of living. I am loyal to people who support me".

On Jul. 21, Tan created his own poll on Facebook, asking his followers who stood a better chance of contesting against Tharman for the presidency.

The other options included businessman George Goh and former GIC head Ng Kok Song.

An overwhelming 71 per cent voted that Tan Kin Lian would stand a better chance at competing against Tharman.

"None" received 12 per cent.

Both presidential hopefuls Ng Kok Song and George Goh have collected their forms, but former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has not yet collected his forms.

All three who have expressed their intention to run for the presidency have not submitted their forms yet.

Mothership has reached out to Tan for more information.

Top photos via Tan Kin Lian/Facebook