I know how to stand my ground: Tharman on potential conflict of interest as former finance minister

Will there be a conflict of interest if a former finance minister becomes the president?

Especially if this president-elect has to work with his former colleagues from the Cabinet.

That was what fellow presidential candidate Ng Kok Song brought up during a dialogue session organised by the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) on Friday night (Aug 25).

At the event, Ng said that the office of the elected president was first conceived in 1984 by Lee Kuan Yew, who was concerned that if there's a freak election and a bad government came into power, or a good government becomes corrupt, there would be no check on the spending of the reserves. 

Ng then added: "If you have a situation where the former finance minister becomes the president and the new Finance Minister or the Prime Minister was someone who had worked with you, was mentored by you, I think it’s possible and it’s also quite likely that there will be a conflict of interest situation."

At today's walkabout at Tiong Bahru Market (Aug 26), fellow presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam responded to Ng's remarks and said: "That might happen if you have two weak individuals and you have a president who doesn't know how to stand his ground.

"That's certainly not going to be the case with me."

Working across the political divide

At the doorstop interview, Tharman was also asked how he'll work across the political divide and engage those who support the opposition. 

"My track record speaks for itself, the way I've treated the opposition all through the years. In Parliament, individual opposition members, how I've treated them through the years, they themselves have spoken about it," he said.

He also added that by nature, he's someone who "just enjoys finding ways to bridge differences". 

And as for the "hardcore" opposition supporters, Tharman accepted that some of them may not vote for him. 

"People have to believe in what they believe, that's part of democracy. So you must accept differences of views as well," he shared. 

"Sometimes, you can't bridge them immediately. But we are all Singaporeans together. Remember that. We are all partisans for Singapore." 

At this morning's event, Tharman and his wife, Jane Yumiko Ittogi, interacted with hawkers and members of the public. 

When they visited the fruit vendors on the first floor of the food centre, several hawkers presented pineapples to him, the campaign logo that he had chosen. 

"We love pineapple very much. Very sweet and tasty," one enthusiastic hawker said. 

Some supporters even turned up all decked out in shirts with pineapple logos, and jostled with one another to take wefies with Tharman and his wife. 

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melissateo@asiaone.com 

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