List of presidents of Singapore

The President of Singapore is the head of state of the Republic of Singapore. Preceded by the Yang di-Pertuan Negara, the office of president was created on 22 December 1965 after Singapore's independence in August 1965, with Yang di-Pertuan Negara Yusof Ishak serving as the first president.^[1][2] Under the Constitution, presidents must be a Singaporean citizen,^[3] non-partisan,^[4] and elected by a popular vote.^[5]

• Top left: S. R. Nathan was the longest serving president of Singapore.
• Top right: Halimah Yacob was the first female president of Singapore.
• Bottom left: Ong Teng Cheong was the first president to be elected by popular vote.
• Bottom right: Tharman Shanmugaratnam is the incumbent president of Singapore.

Originally elected by Parliament, a 1991 constitutional amendment was made to allow for the president to be directly elected by a popular vote, with the 1993 presidential election between Ong Teng Cheong and Chua Kim Yeow being the first time a president was directly elected by popular vote.^[6][5] Singapore follows a non-executive model of the Westminster parliamentary system where the president serves as the head of state, separate to the head of government which is instead served by the Cabinet, led by the prime minister.^[7] In 2016, a second constitutional amendment was made that allowed for a presidential election to be reserved for an ethnic community in Singapore if no one from that community had served as president for the last five presidential terms.^[8][9]

The role of the president was originally ceremonial and symbolic, carrying residual powers, however the role was later given executive powers such as the reserve power to veto certain bills, most notably in relation to Singapore's reserves as a check and balance process as well as revoking and appointing public service appointments among other powers listed in the Constitution.^[10][11]

There have been nine presidents since Singapore gained independence in 1965. The term of president was previously 4 years, with it being extended to 6 years following the 1991 constitutional amendment.^[12] Two presidents, Yusof and Benjamin Sheares, have died in office.^[13][14] Devan Nair was the first president to resign mid-term.^[15] S. R. Nathan was the longest serving president, serving as president for 12 years.^[16]

List of presidents

Symbols

^† Died in office

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Prior office	Term of office			Election	Results	Ref.
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Yusof Ishak (1910–1970)	Yang di-Pertuan Negara	9 August 1965	23 November 1970[†]	5 years, 106 days[a]	–[b]	Elected by Parliament	[2]
							1967
Speaker of Parliament Yeoh Ghim Seng as Acting President 23 November 1970–2 January 1971									[18]
2		Benjamin Sheares (1907–1981)	Physician, academic	2 January 1971	12 May 1981[†]	10 years, 130 days	1970	Elected by Parliament	[19]
							1974
							1978
Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin as Acting President 12 May 1981–14 May 1981									[20][13]
Speaker of Parliament Yeoh Ghim Seng as Acting President 14 May 1981–23 October 1981
3		Devan Nair (1923–2005)	Member of Parliament	23 October 1981	28 March 1985	3 years, 156 days[c]	1981	Elected by Parliament	[22]
Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin as Acting President 28 March 1985–31 March 1985									[23]
Speaker of Parliament Yeoh Ghim Seng as Acting President 31 March 1985–2 September 1985
4		Wee Kim Wee (1915–2005)	Ambassador-at-Large	2 September 1985	1 September 1993	7 years, 364 days	1985	Elected by Parliament	[24]
							1989
5		Ong Teng Cheong (1936–2002)	Deputy Prime Minister	1 September 1993	1 September 1999	6 years	1993	952,513 (58.69%)	[25]
6		Sellapan Ramanathan (1924–2016)	Ambassador-at-Large	1 September 1999	1 September 2011	12 years	1999	Uncontested	[26]
							2005
7		Tony Tan Keng Yam (born 1940)	Deputy Prime Minister	1 September 2011	1 September 2017	6 years	2011	745,693 (35.20%)	[27]
Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers J. Y. Pillay as Acting President 1 September 2017–14 September 2017									[28]
8		Halimah Yacob (born 1954)	Speaker of Parliament	14 September 2017	14 September 2023	6 years	2017	Uncontested	[29]
9		Tharman Shanmugaratnam (born 1957)	Senior Minister	14 September 2023	Incumbent (14 September 2029)	1 year, 243 days	2023	1,749,261 (70.41%)	[30]

Timeline

See also

• Politics of Singapore
• Presidential elections in Singapore
• Spouse of the president of Singapore