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[1/5]Presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam meets his supporters after early sample vote count results at the presidential election in Singapore September 1, 2023. REUTERS/Edgar Su Acquire Licensing Rights
SINGAPORE, Sept 2 (Reuters) – A former member of Singapore’s ruling party on Saturday won the race to become the city-state’s president, in a election seen as a barometer of public sentiment on the government’s performance amid economic challenges and a streak of high-profile scandals.
Former deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, won 70.4% of votes, the elections department said, to become Singapore’s head of state. The country is a parliamentary democracy and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is the head of government.
Tharman has been a popular politician, having scored several landslide victories in parliamentary elections, including the biggest margin of votes in the general election in 2020 as a PAP member.
He resigned from the party earlier this year and emphasised his independence during his campaign for the presidency.
Reporting by Chen Lin; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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