| A candidate for Presidential Elections who has to fulfill extremely stringent criteria, such as having served as cabinet minister, Speaker of Parliament, accountant-general or auditor-general, chairman or chief executive officer of a company with paid-up capital of at least $100 million for minimum of 36 months, which was amended to $500 million shareholders' equity in 2016. A rotational scheme was also put in place such that candidates can only come from a certain ethnic community if there was no President from the community after five terms. Finally, candidates cannot be a member of any political party. Despite so, the governing PAP has traditionally endorsed one candidate in every PE, twice being its former chairman and served as a Deputy Prime Minister, who had to resign from the party. The Presidential Elections Committee ensures that the candidate is qualified prior to issuing him or her the coveted Certificate of Eligibility. |
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