Who can be a candidate in the general elections?

According to section 27(1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA), any person eligible for election as an MP in accordance with the Constitution may be nominated as a candidate for election. In accordance to Article 44 of the Constitution, a person is qualified to be an MP if:

(1)    he is a citizen of Singapore;

(2)    he is of the age of 21 years or above on Nomination Day;

(3)    his name appears in a current register of electors;

(4)    he is resident in Singapore at the date of his nomination for election and has been so resident for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than 10 years prior to that date;

(5)    he is able, with a degree of proficiency sufficient to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings of Parliament, to speak and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read and write at least one of the following languages, that is to say, English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil; and

(6)    he is not disqualified from being an MP under Article 45*.

*Article 45 of the Constitution disqualifies one from membership of Parliament if the candidate is – among other grounds – of unsound mind, an undischarged bankrupt, holding an office of profit or convicted of an offence by a court of law in Singapore or Malaysia.