Former Presidential aspirant George Goh said it is "shocking news for Singapore and Singaporeans" and himself that he does not qualify for the upcoming Presidential Election.

Goh made the statement at a press conference at his home following the Election Department's announcement that Certificates of Eligibility had been issued to Ng Kok Song, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and Tan Kin Lian.

In a separate press release, he said, "I am very disappointed at the decision of the PEC (Presidential Elections Committee) to reject my application for a certificate of eligibility."

Such a decision is a "setback" for him and Singapore and has deprived Singaporeans of a wider choice to select who the next President will be, he added.

Will need some time to recover and consider whether to run again six years from now

Goh responded to a question on whether he would give himself another chance a few years down the road to run for the presidential election again.

He added that he would need time to think about the next six years, or he might risk making a wrong decision.

Goh also said he needed some time to recover from the current situation.

When asked if he regretted standing for this election, Goh said no.

He answered, "In history, someone must step forward. I think I have made history in Singapore. (An) individual private sector independent candidate, (with) no affiliation, (who stood) for election."

Goh reiterated this point when asked for his thoughts about Tan Kin Lian's statement that the majority of the voters who wanted an independent candidate would now vote for him.

Goh emphasised that he had no link to any political party or any government-linked organisations.

"So I'm not sure the other three candidates can stand and say they are very independent," he said.

"If you are not independent and you said you are independent, it's very sad right? I think it's sad. Just do your best if you want to stand for election. You cannot be in the same party or be the same policymaker, you cannot be in the same box."

Legal and financial team had submitted a "very strong case"

Goh also added in his press release that his legal and financial team had submitted a "very strong case" detailing his experience and performance in managing five companies which supposedly met the shareholders’ equity and profitability criteria.

"I was the most senior executive in each of these companies," Goh added.

The press release further claimed that the PEC had rejected his team's argument about how his experience in these companies was equivalent to that of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) running a single company and that it had taken a "very narrow" interpretation of the requirements without explaining the rationale behind its decision.

Goh concluded by saying that while the matter saddened him, he was also thankful and heartened by the support shown to him by "many Singaporeans" over the past few weeks.

Top photo by Julia Yee