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Bank of Singapore CEO Bahren does not rule out running for President

SINGAPORE — Speaking for the first time on the prospect of running for President, Bank of Singapore chief executive officer Bahren Shaari on Wednesday (May 31) did not rule himself out of the coming election. But he stressed that he is currently focused on his job.

Bank of Singapore CEO Bahren Shaari. Photo: Reuters

Bank of Singapore CEO Bahren Shaari. Photo: Reuters

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SINGAPORE — Speaking for the first time on the prospect of running for President, Bank of Singapore chief executive officer Bahren Shaari on Wednesday (May 31) did not rule himself out of the coming election. But he stressed that he is currently focused on his job.

“At the moment, my focus is on growing the business of Bank of Singapore with my team and deriving the synergies from our recent acquisition of the wealth and investment management business of Barclays Bank PLC,” said Mr Bahren, 54, in response to TODAY’s queries. Nevertheless, he added: “I’m humbled to have my name mentioned as a potential candidate ... It is always a privilege and honour to serve the nation.”

Apart from Mr Bahren, who was appointed as an alternate member of the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA) last month, other names that have been bandied about include Parliament Speaker Halimah Yacob, Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli, former Cabinet minister Abdullah Tarmugi, former Senior Minister of State Zainul Abidin Rasheed, and former Deloitte & Touche managing partner Po’ad Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar. 

Mr Mattar, who also sits on the CPA, was yesterday named as a member of the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC), which is tasked to assess the eligibility of presidential hopefuls. This rules him out of the election. 

Presidential hopefuls will be able to start applying for the necessary certificates from Thursday (June 1), in order to contest the Presidential Election (PE) in September, which has been reserved for the Malay community.  

Madam Halimah and Mr Masagos could not be reached by press time, while Dr Yaacob and Mr Zainul did not wish to comment. Similarly, Mr Abdullah, who was part of the nine-man Constitutional Commission which reviewed the Elected Presidency scheme, had earlier told the media he had “not really given the matter any serious thought”. 

On Wednesday, The Straits Times reported that Second Chance Properties CEO Mohamed Salleh Marican has declared his intention to contest. Speaking to TODAY, Mr Marican said he was “taking up the call” by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for eligible Malays to step forward and contest the election. “It will be sad and disappointing if there is no contest,” he said. 

However, he acknowledged that he does not meet the criteria, given that his company does not have at least S$500 million in shareholders’ equity, on average, in the most recent three years. The shareholder equity of Second Chance in the past three financial years was between S$254.3 million and $263.25 million. “It will be daunting but then an entrepreneur is always optimistic and ready to take up a challenge… I will need to convince the PEC of my ability to perform the role and responsibilities of the Elected President,” Mr Marican said. 

The PEC can exercise discretion under the “deliberative” track, which qualifies candidates if they satisfy the committee that they have held “similar or comparable position of seniority and responsibility in any other organisation or department of equivalent size or complexity”.

Political observers had previously said they saw Madam Halimah as one of the likeliest candidates from the public sector to stand in the polls. They added that whether a contest would materialise, however, remained to be seen as no prospective candidates from outside the establishment immediately came to mind. 

Speaking on Wednesday, Singapore Management University law lecturer Eugene Tan reiterated that there was low likelihood of a contest, partly due to the smaller pool of eligible candidates in a reserved election. 

He noted that many of the names thrown up by the media come from the Establishment, and these individuals are unlikely to get into a contest with each other. Neverthless, Assoc Prof Tan said a contest would have “many benefits”, including helping Singaporeans better understand the powers and roles of the President. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SIAU MING EN

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