SINGAPORE – Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said he hopes to be a unifying figure for Singaporeans amid fundamental changes in the country and across the world, as he put himself forward on Thursday as a candidate in the upcoming presidential election.

Mr Tharman said he felt that the time was right for him to serve in the role, should he be elected, and to keep the social compact strong.

“The president has to be a unifying figure at a time that people have more varied preferences and even more varied politics,” he said.

He was speaking to the media outside Taman Jurong Community Club on Thursday, about three hours after he had announced his decision to resign from the Government and the People’s Action Party on July 7 to stand in the upcoming election. His wife, Ms Jane Yumiko Ittogi, was also with him at the media doorstop event.

He had submitted his letter of resignation on Thursday to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who had accepted it.

Mr Tharman said it had been a difficult decision to make as he was very comfortable being a policymaker. “But I think we are entering a fundamentally different era,” he noted.

Apart from changes within Singapore as the population and electorate mature, the world is now set up for crises – economic crises or pandemics, which are going to keep coming – as well as geopolitical conflict, he said.

“We’ve got to hold our own as Singapore – a very small country with a strong reputation built up over the years – but we’ve got to hold our own, so that the population holds together, we can still do well as Singaporeans, and feel good about being Singaporeans,” he said.

Singaporeans themselves have to keep the compact and remain faithful to one another, he said, citing a Chinese saying, “feng yu tong zhou”, which means “going through the most difficult times together in the same boat”.

Of his own chances in the upcoming presidential election, which has to be called by the end of President Halimah Yacob’s term on Sept 13, Mr Tharman said he has made no assumptions.

“I’ve never made assumptions in all the elections I’ve taken part in. This is different because it’s not a political contest, unlike general elections... This is about choosing the right person,” he said.

“I put myself forward to serve to the best of my ability, using all my experience in economics, in finance, in international affairs, and the standing I have internationally.”

Mr Tharman said he was putting himself forward to serve Singaporeans in this new role – “not a political role, but a different one that has to be above politics”.

He added: “The president has to be above the political fray. And that’s what I mean when I say the president can play a unifying role.

“And I offer myself partly because through my background, everyone knows who I am, and they know that I have an independent streak.”

When asked if he felt that his race would put him at a disadvantage in an open election not reserved for any ethnic community, Mr Tharman said he did not think it would be an issue for him.

“It has not been an issue for me in Jurong (GRC). But I guess I also have the advantage of being known to Singaporeans, and having been a minister in various capacities for some time in education and finance,” he said.

When asked why he decided to run for president, given that he had previously said he was not interested in being prime minister, Mr Tharman used an analogy from his sporting days in school.

“In almost all the games I’ve played, particularly competitive field games at a very high level, I never liked being centre-forward. In fact, I didn’t particularly like being the person who scored goals,” he said.

“Now I enjoyed greatly, and for some reason was quite good, at being centre-half, left-half, sometimes full-back.

“I don’t know why, but I like guarding the back and I like planning the game. And I enjoy making the pass to the person who is really the centre-forward to make the most of the ball.”

It was not a rushed decision to stand for election, but one he had thought about over several months, said Mr Tharman.

“Once Madam Halimah announced her decision, I knew I had to take it very seriously. I was leaning that way already... Once I made up my mind, I felt like this is a very important matter.

“No point hedging and disguising the fact that I intend to stand. I should just come out openly and say,” he said.

When asked who would cover his duties after he resigns as an MP for Jurong GRC, Mr Tharman said Mr Shawn Huang would take over his Meet-the-People sessions at Taman Jurong, apart from his own at Jurong Spring.

For other events, the other MPs – Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Law Rahayu Mahzam, Mr Xie Yao Quan and Dr Tan Wu Meng – will take turns to help.

“Once the party decides who might be a potential candidate for the next round, he or she will have to be on the ground, working very hard. So that’s the system. I think Jurong will be served very well,” he added.