Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a Singapore-born economist of Indian descent, secured a resounding win in Singapore’s presidential election, garnering over 70 percent of the votes in the country’s first contested presidential election since 2011.
The 66-year-old former senior minister received 70.4 percent (1,746,427 votes) out of the 2.48 million votes cast, while his Chinese-origin opponents, Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian, garnered 15.72 percent and 13.88 percent, respectively, according to the Elections Department.
The results were declared by Returning Officer Tan Meng Dui just past midnight, making Tharman the third Indian-origin president of Singapore.
