|
The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was chosen by Parliament. Following amendments to the constitution enacted in 1991, the Presidency became a popularly-elected office. The first President elected by the majority of the people was Ong Teng Cheong, who served from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999. The current President of Singapore is Tony Tan Keng Yam. The President of the Republic of Singapore is a ceremonial head of state broadly analogous to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, but the 1991 constitutional amendments gave the President certain reserve powers over government expenditure of financial reserves and appointments to key public offices. The President's official residence is the Istana. ==History== The office of President was created in 1965 after Singapore became a republic upon its secession from the Federation of Malaysia that year. It replaced the office of ''Yang di-Pertuan Negara'', which had been created when Singapore attained self-government in 1959. The last ''Yang di-Pertuan Negara'', Yusof Ishak, became the first President. He was replaced by Benjamin Sheares after his death, who served as President until his death in 1981, when he was succeeded by Chengara Veetil Devan Nair. Owing to personal problems, Nair stepped down in 1985 and was replaced by Wee Kim Wee, who served as President until 1993. In January 1991, the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore〔Now the .〕 was amended to provide for the popular election of the President. The creation of the elected presidency was a major constitutional and political change in Singapore's history as, under the revision, the President is empowered to veto the use of government reserves and appointments to key civil service appointments. He or she can also examine the administration's enforcement of the Internal Security Act〔.〕 and Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act,〔 ("MRHA").〕 and authorise corruption investigations (see below). The first popularly elected President was Ong Teng Cheong, a former cabinet minister. He served as President from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999. By virtue of transitional provisions in the Constitution of Singapore,〔Constitution, Art. 163(1).〕 although Ong's predecessor Wee Kim Wee was not elected as President, because he held the office of President immediately prior to 30 November 1991 he exercised, performed and discharged all the functions, powers and duties of an elected president as if he had been elected to the office of President by the citizens of Singapore until Ong Teng Cheong took office as President. The sixth President was Sellapan Ramanathan, widely known as S.R. Nathan (the nation's only living ex-president). He was not elected by the people in a vote, but became President by virtue of being the sole candidate deemed qualified by the Presidential Elections Committee. His first term of office was from 18 August 1999 to 31 August 2005. He was re-elected after a walkover on 17 August 2005 and stepped down in August 2011. On 27 August 2011, Tony Tan Keng Yam won the 2011 presidential election by a narrow 0.34% margin. He was sworn in as the seventh President of Singapore on 1 September 2011. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「President of Singapore」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|