picked by the government. The shift to a public mandate was to insert another layer of checks and balances, the government said. In Singapore, the president wields the power to veto budgets and government appointments, grant clemency to convicted criminals and guard the national reserves, estimated to be worth more than US$100 billion (¤80.28 billion). But government decisions have rarely been questioned. The president does not take part in policy-making, which is led by the city-state's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the son of the founder of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. Nathan, the former head of the country's largest newspaper group, Singapore Press Holdings Ltd., became president in 1999 as an unopposed candidate in Singapore's second presidential election. «He has all the credentials for the office of the president and is well-regarded and respected for his public service,» the elections committee said in a statement.
