Tony Tan wins Singapore presidential election
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CNTV, August 28, 2011
![Singapore's former deputy prime minister Tony Tan waves to his supporters at the Toa Payoh Stadium after being voted as the President of Singapore on Aug. 28, 2011. Tan won 35.19 percent of the votes cast in Singapore in the polls on Saturday, in the race of four contestants. Tony Tan will be sworn in as president on Sept. 1 for a term of six years. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20110828/001ec94a1ee40fc3e17a01.jpg "Singapore's former deputy prime minister Tony Tan waves to his supporters at the Toa Payoh Stadium after being voted as the President of Singapore on Aug. 28, 2011. Tan won 35.19 percent of the votes cast in Singapore in the polls on Saturday, in the race of four contestants. Tony Tan will be sworn in as president on Sept. 1 for a term of six years. [Xinhua]") |
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Singapore's former deputy prime minister Tony Tan waves to his supporters at the Toa Payoh Stadium after being voted as the President of Singapore on Aug. 28, 2011. Tan won 35.19 percent of the votes cast in Singapore in the polls on Saturday, in the race of four contestants. Tony Tan will be sworn in as president on Sept. 1 for a term of six years. [Xinhua] |
Singapore's former deputy prime minister Tony Tan won the presidential election to be the country's seventh president, the returning officer announced early Sunday morning.
Tan, 71, won 35.19 percent of the votes cast in Singapore in the polls on Saturday, in the race of four contestants. He led by a small margin of less than 2 percent against former lawmaker Tan Cheng Bock.
The results were announced after a recounting of the votes on late Saturday night and early Sunday morning following initial results showing that the two candidates ended up very close in the race.
Tony Tan will be sworn in as president on Sept. 1 for a term of six years.
The president is the ceremonial head of state in Singapore, with custodial powers on the state reserves and veto powers on certain key appointments.
Tony Tan has had support from senior government officials, union organizations as well as trade associations.
His trademarks include thick square-rimmed spectacles, which appeared on his campaign baseball hat as a logo, and his silver swept-back hair.
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Singapore's former deputy prime minister Tony Tan waves to his supporters at the Toa Payoh Stadium after being voted as the President of Singapore on Aug. 28, 2011. Tan won 35.19 percent of the votes cast in Singapore in the polls on Saturday, in the race of four contestants. Tony Tan will be sworn in as president on Sept. 1 for a term of six years. [Xinhua] |
He started his career as a lecturer at the National University of Singapore and later joined the OCBC bank, where rose to the rank of general manager before leaving the bank to join politics in 1979. He headed different ministries such as education, trade and industry, and finance. Singapore's Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew reportedly considered him as the first choice to succeed him as prime minister.
Tan left the cabinet in 1991 to return to OCBC Bank as chairman and chief executive officer.
He returned to the cabinet to be deputy prime minister in 1995 until his second retirement in 2005. He was most recently the deputy chairman and executive director of sovereign wealth fund the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).
In his campaign, Tan said he could help Singapore weather the next financial and economic crisis.
"Our president has access to the prime minister and the cabinet ministers. Our president has access to all cabinet ministers. So a wise, experienced and steady president will be able to make a contribution to help Singapore get through the next financial and economic crisis," he said.
Tan had asked voters to think who would best represent Singapore, at home and abroad, and who would have the right temperament, character and courage to remain calm at times of turbulence.
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