Singaporeans will not have to vote for their new President as only one Certificate of Eligibility has been issued.
This was announced by the Elections Department on Monday (Sep 11) in a press release reproduced below:
Five individuals applied for a Certificate of Eligibility. Of these five individuals, three declared that they belonged to the Malay community and applied for Malay Community Certificates.
Decisions on Certificate of Eligibility
The PEC has decided to issue one Certificate of Eligibility.
Decisions on Community Certificates
The CC referred all three applications for a Malay Community Certificate to the Malay Community Sub-Committee (MCSC), and the MCSC has concluded that all three applicants belong to the Malay community. The CC will therefore issue three Malay Community Certificates.
As this Presidential Election is reserved for the Malay community, the CC rejected the two community declarations where the declarants did not declare themselves to be a member of the Malay community.
Individuals issued with both Certificates
One individual will be issued with both the Certificate of Eligibility and the Malay Community Certificate.
Notification to candidates
The Elections Department has notified all five individuals on the outcome of their applications. Reasons were also given to the unsuccessful applicants for a Certificate of Eligibility. The PEC and the Elections Department will not, in the first instance, publish the names of the unsuccessful applicants or the reasons given to them. This is to give effect to the recommendation of the Constitutional Commission that unsuccessful applicants should not be disclosed to the public, to reduce the prospect of potential applicants being dissuaded from stepping forward to contest the elections. An unsuccessful applicant is free to publish the reasons given to him or her.
Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com
