He said he felt the time was right for him now to serve in this role, should he be elected, and to keep the social compact strong. Read more at straitstimes.com.
SINGAPORE – Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said he hopes to be a unifying figure for Singaporeans amid fundamental changes in Singapore and across the world, as he put himself forward on ThursdayMr Tharman said he felt that the time was right for him now to serve in this role, should he be elected, and to keep the social compact strong.
Mr Tharman said it had been a difficult decision to make as he was very comfortable being a policymaker. “But I think we are entering a fundamentally different era,” he noted. Of his own chances in the upcoming presidential election, which has to be called by the end of President Halimah Yacob’s term on Sept 13, Mr Tharman said he made no assumptions about his chances.
He added: “The president has to be above the political fray. And that’s what I mean when I say the president can play a unifying role. And I offer myself partly because through my background, everyone knows who I am, and they know that I have an independent streak.” When asked why he decided to run for president, given that he had previously said he was not interested in being prime minister, Mr Tharman used an analogy from his sporting days in school.
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