Presidential hopeful Tan Kin Lian hopes that fellow aspirant George Goh will consider having a discussion with him on who should step down, if both of them qualify for the presidential election.

Tan said it would not be good for votes to be split among the "independent candidates".

Tan: We should discuss who should step down if we both qualify for the election

He also said that he expected either himself or Goh to qualify for the election, CNA reported.

Should Goh be the one to qualify, Tan said he would give him his "full support" as he believes it is important to have an independent candidate.

"But if I qualify and he doesn’t, I hope he will reciprocate," Tan said.

He added:

"If both of us qualify, I still think it is a good idea that we should discuss who should step down because it's not good to have a split vote among those who want to have an independent president."

In the event when both of them qualify and decide to contest, Tan said that it will still not be an easy win for former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Tan told CNA he also trusts the judgement of his team of advisors — that a non-establishment candidate might be able to win a four-way contest.

When Mothership asked Tan how he will convince Goh to step down should both of them qualify to run, Tan replied:

"I hope George Goh will change his mind and agree to discuss who will step down and support the other candidate. The person will be the one who has more support from the voters."

When further asked about how he will determine who has more support from the voters and whether he would be willing to step aside should Goh have more support, Tan answered:

"I hope that the ground support will be clearer in the coming week. If Mr Goh has more support, I am willing to step aside and support him. I consider it very important that the independent votes should not be split."

Goh: No such arrangement between us

On Aug. 14, when asked about Tan's suggestion, Goh said there is no such arrangement between them as he does not know Tan very well.

Goh also said that if a person comes forward to run as President, they must put all of their effort into it so that people will know they are genuine in their desire to serve the nation.

Tan: "High respect" for Goh

Earlier on Aug. 11, at the launch of his presidential bid, Tan said that he had "high respect" for Goh, his team and his enthusiasm.

Tan also said that he was quite prepared to stand aside when Goh expressed interest as he felt that Goh would be an "independent person".

However, upon hearing comments that Goh may not qualify, as well as Ng Kok Song's intention to run, Tan said he felt it is important to offer Singaporeans a chance to vote for someone who is independent.

Tan said he would also speak to Goh to decide who should step down if they both qualify.

Top left photo via Tan Kin Lian/Facebook, right photo by Matthias Ang