Unlike in the past, when it was less onerous to find a potential candidate for an appointed presidency, a candidate for the current elected post would be more difficult to find.

His quality of being apolitical and a strong unifying figure, able to win the support of citizens, must be above all.

One of the proposals for minority representation is a rotational system, in which only members of one community can contest in each election.

Rotation has to take into account the racial composition of the population in percentage terms, and it may not be prudent to alter aspects of the presidency simply to accommodate another race.

Hence, to minimise any contention, the idea of going back to having Parliament decide who should take up the highest office in the land is a very good one ("'Restore former system of Parliament appointing president'"; May 7).

This will enable Members of Parliament, as representatives of the people, to look into the issue closely.

All our appointed presidents, although they came from a political party, discharged their duties impartially while in office.

Perhaps there should be a hybrid appoint-elect system. Instead of simply appointing a president, Parliament can scrutinise and select a few potential candidates to stand for election, to be voted in by the public.

In this way, the electorate will have a better slate of candidates.

Hence, in any referendum on the proposals ("Let Singaporeans vote on changes to elected presidency" by Mr S. Nallakaruppan; May 11), an option in which Parliament submits a selection of candidates for a presidential election should be included.

Philip Sim Ah Tee