After Singapore achieved full internal self-governance from the British Empire in 1959, the ceremonial office of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara (lit.

A constitutional amendment was made that year to allow for the president to be directly elected by a popular vote, which was subsequently first held in 1993.

Sheares was succeeded by Devan Nair, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Anson SMC from 1979 to 1981, prior to his presidency, who then resigned in 1985.

As such, then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew became worried that there would one day be a "freak election result" where the PAP would no longer have control over the Parliament and opposition parties would have unfettered access to the government's reserves.

[7] This was a result of transitional provisions in the Constitution of Singapore in 2017,[8] which were affirmed by the High Court following a legal challenge by then-presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock.

He ran unopposed, and became president by virtue of being the sole candidate deemed qualified by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC).

After S. R. Nathan stepped down, Tony Tan, who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 2005 prior to his presidency, won the 2011 presidential election by a narrow margin in a four-cornered fight.

[17] In addition to being the head of state, it is also the function of the president to safeguard the national reserves and the integrity of the public service of Singapore.

[21] However, the president is able to exercise some powers in their personal discretion[22] such as preventing the government of the day from drawing on the reserves which were not accumulated during its current term of office, revoking or appointing any of the public offices under Article 22 of the Constitution such as Chief Justice, Attorney-General, Chief of Defence Force and Commissioner of Police, amongst others.,[23] exercising oversight over the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and decisions of the Executive under the Internal Security Act[5] and the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act.

[24] The president's primary role in the exercise of legislative power to make laws is assenting to bills passed by Parliament.

[25] As the president exercises this constitutional function in accordance with the Cabinet's advice and not in their personal discretion except in certain circumstances,[26] they may not refuse to assent to bills that Parliament has validly passed.

Wee Kim Wee promoted sports and volunteerism; Ong Teng Cheong promoted culture and the arts, particularly music; and S. R. Nathan established the President's Challenge with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and its statutory board, the National Council of Social Service.

[32] The Constitution confers on the president certain executive functions to block attempts by the government of the day to draw down reserves that it did not accumulate.

Thus, a guarantee may only be given or a loan raised by the government if the president concurs,[33] and their approval is also needed for budgets of specified statutory boards and state-owned companies that draw on their past reserves.

[34] The president also possesses personal discretion to withhold assent to any bill in Parliament providing directly or indirectly for the direct or indirect variation, changing or increase in powers of the Central Provident Fund Board to invest moneys belonging to it;[35] and the borrowing of money, the giving of any guarantee or the raising of any loan by the government if in the president's opinion the bill is likely to draw on reserves not accumulated by the Government during its current term of office.

The term of office of the first elected president, Ong Teng Cheong, was marked by the differences between the government and him, concerning the extent of his discretionary fiscal powers.

[44] In 2009, the government had to request for the approval from President S. R. Nathan to draw $4.9 billion from past financial reserves to meet current budget expenditure, the first time it had done so.

The sum was used to fund the government's Resilience Package consisting of two schemes aimed at preserving jobs and businesses during the Great Recession.

[59][60] In November 2016, further amendments provide for "reserved elections" for a particular racial group (Chinese, Malay and Indian/other minority) — if that community has not been represented for five presidential terms.

[63] Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong later explained that while he expected the "reserved election" policy to be unpopular among the population, he believed it was "the right thing to do".

[69] The process begins when the prime minister issues a writ of election to the returning officer specifying the date and place of nomination day.

[71] In particular, the PEC must be satisfied that the potential candidates are persons of integrity, good character and reputation;[53] and if they have not previously held certain key government offices or acted as chairman of the board of directors or CEO of a company incorporated or registered under the Companies Act with shareholders' equity of at least $500 million, that they held a position of comparable seniority and responsibility in the public or private sector that has given them experience and ability in administering and managing financial affairs.

[73] For the 2017 presidential election, the members of the PEC are Eddie Teo (chairman), Lim Soo Hoon, Chan Heng Chee, Po'ad Shaik Abu Bakar Mattar, Tay Yong Kwang, and Peter Seah.

[80] Permits must be obtained to hold election meetings[81] and display posters and banners,[82] and a number of acts are unlawful, including bribery,[83] dissuading electors from voting,[84] making false statements about candidates,[85] treating[86] and undue influence.

Sample counts were announced at about 22:42 and showed that Tharman Shanmugaratnam was leading with 70% of the votes, followed by Ng Kok Song with 16%, and Tan Kin Lian with 14%.

Upon assumption of office, the president is required to take and subscribe in the presence of the chief justice or of another justice of the Supreme Court the Oath of Office, which states:[105] I, [name], having been elected President of the Republic of Singapore, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge my duties as such to the best of my ability without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, and without regard to any previous affiliation with any political party, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic, and that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore.If the President is a Christian, He or She may utter the phrase in the last sentence, "So help me God".

Speaking in Parliament on 10 March 2011, Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam explained that this sum was to cater for the salaries of an additional staff officer to support the work of the Council of Presidential Advisers, and a butler manager; and to meet higher variable staff salary payments due to the nation's strong economic growth.

In previous years, this sum was used to cover various expenses such as the cost of replacing state cars and installing a new document repository.