President of Singapore
The eighth and current president, Halimah Yacob, took office on 14 September 2017, becoming the first president elected as she was the sole eligible candidate under the new reform terms which took effect earlier that year. She is also the first female President of Singapore.
Powers of the President of Singapore
On 2 September 1993, Ong Teng Cheong became Singapore's first directly elected President. During his term of office, some differences arose between him and the Government concerning the extent of his discretionary fiscal powers. At a press conference on 16 July 1999, the President announced he would not be seeking re-election, and referred to what he termed a "long list" of problems he had experienced when trying to protect the nation's past reserves. In particular, he mentioned:The Minister for Finance Richard Hu Tsu Tau and the Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made ministerial statements in Parliament on 17 August 1999 explaining the Government's views on the points raised.