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{{Short description|Council by the Government of Singapore}}
{{Politics of Singapore}}
The '''Presidential Elections Committee''' ('''PEC''') is a six-member council set up by the [[Government of Singapore]] to ensure that each candidate running for the office of [[President of Singapore]] fulfils the stringent qualifications set out in Article 19 of the [[Constitution of Singapore]].

==Composition==
The Presidential Elections Committee consists of:
* Chairman of the [[Public Service Commission (Singapore)|Public Service Commission]] (PSC), who also serves as the Chairman of the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC)
* Chairman of the [[Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority]] (ACRA)
* a member of the [[Presidential Council for Minority Rights]] (PCMR), appointed by the Chairman of PCMR
* a member or former member of the [[Council of Presidential Advisers]] (CPA), appointed by the Chairman of CPA, except for the sitting Chairman of CPA or a former member who vacated his seat under Article 37F(2)(a) or (c) of the Constitution
* a person who is qualified to be or has been a [[Judicial officers of the Republic of Singapore|Judge]] of the [[Supreme Court of Singapore|Supreme Court]], appointed by the [[Chief Justice of Singapore|Chief Justice]]
* a person, who in the opinion of the [[Prime Minister of Singapore|Prime Minister]] has expertise and experience acquired in the private sector that is relevant to the functions of the PEC, appointed by the Prime Minister<ref>Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, Art. 18(2).</ref>

There is also a Community Committee, which will assess whether the candidate belongs to the specified ethnic community.<ref>{{cite web|title=Appointment of Chairman and Members of Community Committee and Sub-committees|url=http://www.eld.gov.sg/gazette/G_PreP2017/Appointment%20of%20Chairman%20and%20Members%20of%20Community%20Committee%20and%20Sub-Committees.pdf|website=Elections Department Singapore|publisher=Government Gazette|access-date=31 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606091758/http://www.eld.gov.sg/gazette/G_PreP2017/Appointment%20of%20Chairman%20and%20Members%20of%20Community%20Committee%20and%20Sub-Committees.pdf|archive-date=6 June 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Criticism==
===Amount of discretionary power===
Legal academic Valentine Winslow wrote that the committee has the power to reject anyone who does not have "integrity, good character, and reputation", and that this places too much discretionary power in the hands of a small group of persons, with no guarantee that they are qualified to judge others as being of integrity and good character, or are unbiased, as there is no provision for any independent election commission.<ref name="WinslowElection">{{cite book | author=Valentine S. Winslow | chapter=The election of a president in a parliamentary system | editor1-first=Peng er | editor1-last=Lam | title=Managing Political Change in Singapore | publisher=Routledge | pages=96–97 | isbn=9781136205187 | editor2-first=Kevin | editor2-last=Tan}}</ref>

Constitutional lawyer [[Thio Li-ann]] wrote that the mechanism of selecting qualified candidates "removes the power of choice one step further away from the people, placing in the hands of an unelected group of people the power to decide who is a suitable candidate".<ref name="ThioPresidency">{{cite book|last1=Thio|first1=Li-ann|title=Presidency|date=2015|publisher=Institute of Policy Studies|location=Singapore|isbn=9789814747011}}</ref>

===Decisions beyond judicial review===
Thio observed that the committee is "not under a legal duty to give reasons for their decision, which is deficient as a process".<ref name="ThioPresidency" />

===Opacity of decisions leading to embarrassment===
Winslow suggested that there is an "embarrassment of uncertainty" for a candidate seeking nomination, because they may be rejected for reasons completely unclear to them, and that "men of eminence" will not agree to be nominated if they are likely to be humiliated by rejection.<ref name="WinslowElection" />

==Election Committees==
===2005 Presidential Election===
The Presidential Elections Committee for the [[2005 Singapore presidential election]] had three members:
* [[Andrew Chew]], Chairman
* [[Lim Siong Guan]]
* H R Hochstadt

===2017 Presidential Election===
The Presidential Elections Committee for the [[2017 Singapore presidential election|2017 presidential election]] comprises six members.
* [[Eddie Teo]], Chairman of the [[Public Service Commission (Singapore)|Public Service Commission]] 
* [[Lim Soo Hoon]], Chairwoman of the [[Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority]] 
* [[Chan Heng Chee]], Member of the [[Presidential Council for Minority Rights]]
* Po'ad Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar, Member of the [[Council of Presidential Advisers]]
* [[Tay Yong Kwang]], Judge of the Court of Appeal
* Peter Seah, Chairman of [[DBS Bank]]

The Community Committee is headed by Timothy James de Souza, a member of the Presidential Council of Minority Rights.

====Malay community sub-committee====
The Malay community sub-committee, which will issue the Malay Community Certificate to candidates, comprises five members.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zhu |first1=Melissa |last2=Abu Baker |first2=Jalelah |date=31 May 2017 |title=Applications for Presidential Election to open Jun 1 |work=Channel NewsAsia |publisher=Mediacorp Pte Ltd |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/applications-for-presidential-election-to-open-jun-1-8897484 |url-status=dead |access-date=31 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731220543/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/applications-for-presidential-election-to-open-jun-1-8897484 |archive-date=31 July 2017}}</ref>
* [[Imram Mohamed]], former Chairman of the [[Association of Muslim Professionals]] 
* Fatimah Azimullah, Advisor to the Singapore Muslim Women's Association
* Mohammad Alami Musa, President of [[Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura]]
* Yatiman Yusof, former Senior Parliamentary Secretary
* Zulkifli Baharudin, Non-Resident Ambassador to [[Uzbekistan]] and [[Kazakhstan]], and Executive Chairman of Indo-Trans Corporation

All five were also on the Malay Community Committee that gave the green light to Malay candidates in Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) in the [[2015 Singaporean general election|2015 general election]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yong |first1=Charissa |date=1 June 2017 |title=Application for reserved presidential election opens |language=en |work=The Straits Times |publisher=Straits Times |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/application-for-reserved-presidential-election-opens |url-status=dead |access-date=29 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729140504/http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/application-for-reserved-presidential-election-opens |archive-date=29 July 2017}}</ref>
===2023 Presidential Election===
The Presidential Elections Committee for the [[2023 Singaporean presidential election|2023 presidential election]] comprises six members.
* [[Lee Tzu Yang]], Chairman of the [[Public Service Commission (Singapore)|Public Service Commission]] 
* Ong Chong Tee, Chairman of the [[Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority]] 
* [[Chan Heng Chee]], Member of the [[Presidential Council for Minority Rights]]
* Chua Thian Poh, Member of the [[Council of Presidential Advisers]]
* Kannan Ramesh,  Judge of the Court of Appeal
* [[Quentin Loh]], Judge of the High Court

The Community Committee is headed by Edward D'Silva, a member of the [[Public Service Commission (Singapore)|Public Service Commission]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Elections in Singapore]]
[[Category:Presidential elections in Singapore]]
[[Category:Presidents of Singapore]]