Second Chance CEO Salleh Marican: Hope President-elect Halimah Yacob will 'heal the wounds'
UPDATE: Bourbon Offshore chairman Farid Khan has issued a statement in response to Halimah Yacob being declared as Singapore’s next president.
Second Chance Properties CEO Salleh Marican said on Wednesday (13 September) he hopes President-elect Halimah Yacob will “heal the wounds”, two days after he was deemed not eligible to run in this year’s presidential election.
Halimah, 63, the only eligible presidential candidate, turned up earlier Wednesday at the Nomination Centre at King George’s Avenue to submit her forms and was later declared as Singapore’s next President. The presidential election was reserved for Malay candidates.
Salleh, 67, said in a statement, “This has been a divisive run-up to the nomination for the President. I hope Mdm Halimah will heal the wounds. Given her experience and background, I believe she will be the unifying President.”
The founder of Second Chance and Bourbon Offshore Asia Pacific chairman Farid Khan, 62, were both not issued the Certificate of Eligibility by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC). They were, however, assessed to be members of the Malay community by the Malay Community Sub-Committee.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Farid thanked his family and Singaporeans for their support and wished Halimah all the best. “I hope that she will have the people of Singapore in her thoughts when making any decisions that will affect our lives and the lives of our children,” he said.
After the PEC rejected his application, Salleh said on Monday, “I am disappointed that the committee did not see it fit to give me the go-ahead to take part in the Presidential Election. But this doesn’t mean my work to help my fellow Singaporeans comes to an end. My team and I will regroup to see how the effort to help our disadvantaged sisters and brothers can go forward.”
Salleh thanked his family members, campaign team, well-wishers and others for supporting his bid for the presidency and said he will continue to serve Singapore in other ways.
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