Singapore elects Tharman Shanmugaratnam, descendant of Sri Lankan Tamils, as President

Colombo (News 1st) - Former deputy PM and ruling party candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam, 66, a descendant of Sri Lankan Tamils, swept to a landslide victory in the Singapore presidential election with 70.4% of the vote, becoming the first non-Chinese to win a presidential election, Singapore media reported Saturday.

He is a fourth-generation Singaporean of Sri Lankan Taml ancestry from the 19th century. He is the son of Emeritus Professor K. Shanmugaratnam, a medical scientist known as the "father of pathology in Singapore", who founded the Singapore Cancer Registry and led a number of international organisations related to cancer research and pathology.

He easily defeated the two other candidates, both from the majority Chinese community, who polled 15% and 14% respectively.

A highly regarded and distinguished political leader, he made the baffling decision to quit the People's Action Party (PAP) that has ruled Singapore since independence and run for the largely ceremonial post of president. An economist by profession, he has distinguished himself over two decades as a cabinet minister since 2003, serving as Finance Minister (2007-15) and Deputy Prime Minister (2011-19). Many considered him a likely successor to current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and believed that he would one day become the nation's first non-Chinese PM.

He will succeed President Halimah Yacob, who did not run for re-election. The first woman to become President, Yacob, who is from the minority Malay community, stepped in to the presidency uncontested in 2017 as Singapore's constitution requires that members of the country's two minorities must serve as president at least once every five terms. President Ranil Wickremesinghe met with President Yacob during his recent visit to Singapore.

Singapore has had two ethnic Indian presidents before - Devan Nair and S.R. Nathan - but they had both been elected in uncontested polls.