Singapore will hold polls for the presidential election on Sept. 1, Returning Officer Tan Meng Dui made the announcement on Tuesday after three candidates filed nomination documents.
Senior investor Ng Kok Song, former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Tan Kin Lian, former income chief of the National Trades Union Congress, were nominated for the presidency race.
As the head of the city-state, the Singaporean president is empowered to veto government budgets and key public appointments.
He is to authorise anti-corruption investigations, and safeguard the country’s fiscal reserve.
Singaporeans will vote for just the third time since a constitutional amendment in 1991 transformed the post into a publicly elected one.
There were a total of six applications for the city-state’s largely ceremonial post of president.
Six years ago, incumbent Halimah Yacob got the job in an uncontested exercise, unlike in the 2017 election when only Malay candidates were allowed to seek the presidency, the poll is open to all races this time.
