Constitution of the Republic of Singapore · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 5 · The Government
19B. Reserved election for community that has not held office of President for 5 or more consecutive terms
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An election for the office of President is reserved for a community if no person belonging to that community has held the office of President for any of the 5 most recent terms of office of the President.
President
“President” means the President of Singapore elected under this Constitution and includes any person for the time being exercising the functions of the office of President;
A person is qualified to be elected as President —
in an election reserved for one community under clause (1), only if the person belongs to the community for which the election is reserved and satisfies the requirements in Article 19;
in an election reserved for 2 communities under clause (1) —
only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the community from which a person has not held the office of President for the greater number of consecutive terms of office immediately before the election; or
if no person qualifies under sub-paragraph (i), only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the other community for which the election is reserved; and
in an election reserved for all 3 communities under clause (1) —
only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the community from which a person has not held the office of President for the greatest number of consecutive terms of office immediately before the election;
if no person qualifies under sub-paragraph (i), only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the community from which a person has not held the office of President for the next greatest number of consecutive terms of office immediately before the election; or
if no person qualifies under sub‑paragraph (i) or (ii), only if the person satisfies the requirements in Article 19 and belongs to the remaining community.
For the purposes of this Article, a person who exercises the functions of the President under Article 22N or 22O is not considered to have held the office of President.
The Legislature may, by law —
provide for the establishment of one or more committees to decide, for the purposes of this Article, whether a person belongs to the Chinese community, the Malay community or the Indian or other minority communities;
prescribe the procedure by which a committee under paragraph (a) decides whether a person belongs to a community;
provide for the dispensation of the requirement that a person must belong to a community in order to qualify to be elected as President if, in a reserved election, no person who qualifies to be elected as President under clause (2)(a), (b) or (c) (as the case may be) is nominated as a candidate for election as President; and
make such provisions the Legislature considers necessary or expedient to give effect to this Article.
No provision of any law made pursuant to this Article is invalid on the ground of inconsistency with Article 12 or is considered to be a differentiating measure under Article 78.
law
“law” includes written law and any legislation of the United Kingdom or other enactment or instrument whatsoever which is in operation in Singapore and the common law in so far as it is in operation in Singapore and any custom or usage having the force of law in Singapore;
In this Article —
“community” means —
the Chinese community;
the Malay community; or
the Indian or other minority communities;
“person belonging to the Chinese community” means any person who considers himself to be a member of the Chinese community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Chinese community by that community;
member
“member” means a member of the Council and includes the Chairman and any alternate member appointed under Article 37C.
“person belonging to the Malay community” means any person, whether of the Malay race or otherwise, who considers himself to be a member of the Malay community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Malay community by that community;
“person belonging to the Indian or other minority communities” means any person of Indian origin who considers himself to be a member of the Indian community and who is generally accepted as a member of the Indian community by that community, or any person who belongs to any minority community other than the Malay or Indian community;
“term of office” includes an uncompleted term of office.
term of office
“term of office”, in relation to the Government, means the period —(a)commencing on the date the Prime Minister and Ministers first take and subscribe the Oath of Allegiance in accordance with Article 27 after a general election; and(b)ending after the next general election on the date immediately before the Prime Minister and Ministers first take and subscribe the Oath of Allegiance in accordance with Article 27;