SINGAPORE: The next Singapore Presidential Election due next year will be reserved for Malay candidates, based on the hiatus-triggered model, Channel NewsAsia reported, quoting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Parliament today. It will start counting from the first president who exercised the powers of the Elected Presidency, namely Dr Wee Kim Wee, Lee said during the parliamentary debate on proposed changes to the Elected Presidency system, which started on Monday. The prime minister said thus, if a qualified Malay candidate steps up to run in the Presidential Election next year, Singapore will have a Malay President again. "As Minister Yaacob (Ibrahim) noted yesterday, this would be our first after more than 46 years, since our first President Encik Yusof Ishak," Lee was quoted as saying. This means that in the course of six terms, there should be at least one President from the Chinese, Malay, Indian and other minority communities, provided qualified candidates appear, he explained.

Source: New Strait Times November 08, 2016 09:56 UTC