1999 Singaporean presidential election

1999 Singaporean presidential election

← 1993 18 August 1999 2005 →
Registered1,967,984 (Increase 12.04%)
 
Nominee Sellapan Ramanathan
Party Independent
Popular vote Unopposed

President before election

Ong Teng Cheong
Independent

Elected President

Sellapan Ramanathan
Independent

Presidential elections were scheduled to be held in Singapore on 18 August 1999. Incumbent president Ong Teng Cheong, who had been elected in 1993, did not seek re-election. The Presidential Elections Committee declared Sellapan Ramanathan to be the only eligible presidential candidate to be issued a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) as per the eligibility requirements.

S.R. Nathan previously served as Singapore's Ambassador to the United States from 1990 to 1996 and was elected in an uncontested election due to the lack of eligible candidates. He was sworn in as the sixth President of Singapore on 1 September 1999. As of 2024, Nathan was also the first (and to date, the only) President-elect without any direct affiliation to any political party or a prior record of political experience.