George Goh disappointed at the decision of the Presidential Elections Committee, says “it is a setback not just for me but for Singapore”

SINGAPORE: Following the announcement of the Elections Department (ELD) on qualifying candidates, businessman George Goh expressed his disappointment with the rejection of his application.

In a press meeting on Friday (Aug 18), Mr. George Goh said that his legal and financial team submitted a “very strong case detailing my experience and performance managing five companies which met the shareholders’ equity and profitability criteria”. He added that he was the most senior executive in each of these companies.

“The PEC rejected our argument that my experience in these companies was equivalent to that of a CEO running a single company, and took a very narrow interpretation of the requirements without explaining the rationale behind its decision”, he said.

He added that the decision is a “setback not just for me but for Singapore”.

On Friday, ELD said unsuccessful applicants for a Certificate of Eligibility were told of the reasons for the PEC’s decision. But these will not be published, along with the names of the applicants, “in light of the concern … that potential applicants may be dissuaded from stepping forward to contest the elections for fear of embarrassment”.

“However, unsuccessful applicants are not precluded from publishing the committee’s reasons provided to them,” the department added.

Former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song, former NTUC Income chief executive Tan Kin Lian, and former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam have qualified as candidates for Singapore’s Presidential Election, the Elections Department (ELD) announced on Friday (Aug 18).

The six-member PEC, headed by Public Service Commission chairman Lee Tzu Yang and including two Supreme Court judges, was satisfied that Mr. Ng, Mr. Tan, and Mr. Tharman were men of “integrity, good character, and reputation”, said ELD. /TISG

Read also:

2023 Singapore Presidential Election: Will Khaw Boon Wan Be The Establishment’s Choice? 

PE2023: Lee Hsien Yang’s Potential Run Shakes Up Singapore’s Presidential Race 

SM Tharman to run for president, DPM Lawrence Wong to be appointed chairman of MAS and committee in GIC  

Tharman Shanmugaratnam handed over EDB’s IAC Baton to DPM Lawrence Wong