The Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) has disputed former presidential hopeful George Goh's claim that they did not explain their reason for rejecting his application.

The PEC released a press release on Aug. 18 "firmly reject[ing]" his claims, and attached its rejection letter to Goh, detailing its rationale for being unable to grant Goh a Certificate of Eligibility.

Goh previously shared in a press release earlier today that the PEC had taken a "very narrow" interpretation of the requirements without explaining the rationale behind its decision.

Five companies are not the same as one

The Committee explained that it considers whether the applicant has the "experience and ability that comes from managing one very large private sector organisation".

"[T]he experience and ability that comes from managing multiple smaller private sector organisations is not equivalent to this," the PEC emphasised.

The PEC also noted that Goh's application acknowledged that the five companies he relied on are not a "unitary company" and are "not owned by a common holding company".

However, Goh had asked that the five companies be regarded as a single private sector organisation.

These five companies are Ossia International Limited, Pertama Holdings Pte Ltd, ITG International Pte Ltd, Crown Essentials Limited, and Vernal Ventures Pte Ltd.

Goh shared that he was "the most senior executive in each of these companies".

The PEC added:

"The Committee carefully considered Mr Goh's submission, However, after taking into account the relevant facts and circumstances (including how the companies were owned, managed and operated), the Committee was not satisfied that the five companies constituted a single private sector organisation."

The PEC concluded that these reasons were explained in its letter to Goh, and that it was unable to grant Goh a Certificate of Eligibility.

The PEC's letter to Goh can be read in full below:

Background

In a press release on Aug 18, Goh said that he was "very disappointed" with the decision of the PEC to reject his application for a certificate of eligibility.

He said that the PEC rejected his legal and financial team's "very strong case" that his experience in these companies was equivalent to that of a CEO running a single company, and took a "very narrow interpretation" of the requirements.

At a press conference on Aug 4, Goh said that he has a group of five companies with a combined shareholders’ equity of S$1.521 billion (US$1.12 billion) over three years.

He added that this is collectively equivalent to an average shareholders’ equity of S$507 million annually for the group as a whole.

Goh did not reveal the names of the five companies he submitted to the PEC.

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Photos via Google Street View & Julia Yee