Halimah Yacob was declared Singapore’s president-elect after submitting all of her papers for the presidential election on September 13.(Photo: Yahoo News Singapore/VNA)
Singapore (VNA) – Halimah Yacob was declared Singapore’s president-elect after submitting all of her papers for the presidential election on September 13.
The 63-year-old woman is Singapore’s eighth President and the second Malay head of state after more than 47 years in the country’s history.
Among the documents she had to submit to the People’s Association headquarters are the certificate of eligibility issued by the Presidential Election Committee, the community certificate issued by the Community Committee and a political donation certificate.
Under the amendments to the Constitution that came into effect in June this year, candidates from the private sectors have to show that they come from a company and hold at least 368 million USD in shareholders’ equity. Two other presidential hopefuls, Mohamed Salleh Marican and Farid Khan, were rejected as they did not meet the requirements.
Meanwhile, Halimah meets the criteria set out for those in the public sector, having held office for at least three years as Speaker of Parliament. She had to leave 32,000 USD as a deposit on her candidacy.
She will be sworn in as Singaporean President on September 14.-VNA
VNA
