SINGAPORE — Voters should not evaluate aspiring presidential hopefuls' independence based on their past links with the Government as making such 'artificial distinctions' would risk putting off good candidates and weaken the system in the long run, said Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
. Both Mr Goh and Mr Ng have repeatedly played up the fact that unlike Mr Tharman, they have no past affiliations with the ruling People’s Action Party .
Mr Lim Siong Guan, former group president of GIC and former head of civil service, spoke about Mr Tharman's"very sharp, very agile" mind and candidly shared how he had some concerns when the latter first forayed into politics. Under Singapore's electoral rules, the campaign period starts after nomination proceedings end on Nomination Day, the date for which has yet to be announced.
On the flipside, if the other two do qualify, some people are saying that Mr Ng is a middle ground candidate, with some ties to the establishment but no party ties. What are your thoughts on that?Of course, I remain of the view that a contest will be healthy. I've always wanted it and I hope that you will have at least one candidate qualifying, if not more, but it's not for me to say.
I'm advantaged by the political experience of having worked on policies and understood the complexities of running a Government in Singapore and playing an international role for Singapore.I would add as a more serious point, take care that we're not weakening the system for the long term if we're going to start judging the eligibility of candidates or their suitability according to whether they have a past relationship to the Government.
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