Veteran diplomat S. R. Nathan was confirmed yesterday as the city-state's next president without a vote being cast, after two other candidates were barred from running under unique eligibility rules.
Tan Soo Phuan, 63-year-old leader of the little-known Democratic Progressive Party, and 58-year-old private tutor Ooi Boon Ewe both failed the Presidential Elections Committee's screening test, letting the Government's candidate walk in.
'We don't want some private tutor or failed politician to demean the post of President,' Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told Parliament.
An election and public holiday scheduled for August 28 will now be cancelled.
Under the constitution, eligible candidates must not only show they have 'integrity, good character and reputation', but they also must have held high public office or have headed a statutory board or a private firm with capital of more than S$100 million (HK$464 million).
Critics say this rules out almost anyone not close to the country's current elite.