During CNA's live presidential forum, candidates were asked about their impartiality and how they will convince voters they will exercise their powers without fear or favour.
SINGAPORE: Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Monday that labelling candidates by their political affiliations is an"extremely simplistic" thinking that would have ruled out many past presidential candidates from a contest, and even senior civil servants who worked under politicians.
"If we go with a label of whether you've been a member of a political party or not. I think that's extremely simplistic," he said, adding that this would have ruled out former presidents Ong Teng Cheong and Tony Tan, as well as past presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock. "Let's say you have a private company, you have a construction company that depends on government contracts. Or you have a fund management company that depends on government monies. Does that make you not independent? Not necessarily. It depends on your character, your track record," he continued.
The political leanings and past affiliations of each candidate have come under scrutiny over the past few days of campaigning.resigned from all his positions in government and as a member of the ruling People's Action PartyMr Ng, 75, has repeatedly emphasised that he is the only candidate who has no political affiliations, although he has links with the establishment as a long-time public servant.He now chairs Avanda Investment Management.
"These are very important things to solve, and we shouldn't be thinking about politicising," he said.During the hour-long forum, the three candidates were asked a series of nine questions and were each given a set length of time to answer them. "When one finger gets wounded, the whole hand, the whole palm feels the pain. So we must develop this empathy, this compassion towards people of other communities," he added.
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