Surprised by high degree of endorsement, says Singapore's Prez-elect

Amid pouring congratulatory messages, Singapore's President-elect Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Saturday said he was surprised by "such a high degree of endorsement", and that he was very serious about wanting to fulfil the mandate given by the people.

Singapore-born Indian-origin candidate in a predominantly Chinese multi-racial Singapore, 66-year-old Tharman won the presidential election with a massive vote share of 70.4% in the early hours of Saturday. This is the first contested presidential election since 2011.

Speaking to journalists at his first doorstop interview since the official result was declared, Tharman said, "I did not expect such a high degree of endorsement, which also means there was a fair number of people who would normally not vote in favour of the ruling party, who decided that this was not a political election, this is not a General Election. And they decided to vote for me, and I think that's also very encouraging."


Describing the result as "remarkable unity" from Singaporeans, the economist-turned-politician said he thinks Singaporeans "have been very sensible in the way they voted."

"I think it's also interesting that Singaporeans, whom I believe want a non-partisan President ... They do not think that having been a member of a political party or even being a member of Cabinet should diminish a person's ability to be non-partisan," Channel News Asia quoted the former deputy prime minister and senior minister as saying.

"It all depends on the individual, the character of the person, the reputation of the person, and the ability to reach across all the boundaries you can think of in Singapore."