Member of Parliament from the People's Action Party, Mdm Halimah Yacob has just announced that she will contest in the upcoming Presidential Election as a candidate and will resign from her roles as Speaker of Parliament and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP on Monday.
Speaking at a National Day dinner at the Marsiling Mega Sports Park, Mdm Halimah said, "I recognise that the position of the elected President has the tremendous capacity to do good for all Singaporeans and for Singapore...Hence, I wish to inform you that I will be contesting in the coming Presidential Election."
Despite a constant reluctant in confirming her intention to stand for the Presidency Election, Mdm Halimah has been active attending dinners and functions organised by the labour unions and appearing at various events.
This announcement comes after months of prediction that Mdm Halimah is set to become People's Action Party's preferred candidate and after Minister at Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing addressed her in Parliament as "Mdm President".
The upcoming election will be a Reserved Election for Malay candidates following the recent amendments to the Elected Presidency earlier this year.
While many protest the fact that Mdm Halimah is an Indian Muslim, she has defended herself by stating that she has been certified as a Malay candidate four-times by the Community Committee under the Election Department.
As Mdm Halimah is contesting as a public sector candidate in the capacity of a Speaker of Parliament, she does not have to fulfil the stringent criteria of having to be in charge of a company with $500 million shareholders equity, a criteria that would likely to disqualify a lot of would-be candidates from the private sector.
Apart from stepping down as the Speaker and MP, Mdm Halimah will also have to resign from her political party to stand as an independent candidate.
