SINGAPORE: The former deputy prime minister Tony Tan has narrowly won Singapore's presidential election in a sign that support for the ruling party is eroding.
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Mr Tan was tacitly endorsed by the Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, in the first contest since 1993 for the largely ceremonial position.
The closeness of the vote will ring alarm bells in the People's Action Party, which has ruled the city-state with an iron grip for more than four decades.
The result comes after May's parliamentary election where the PAP's vote fell to 60 per cent, its lowest since Singapore split from Malaysia in 1965.
Analysts say the party is facing a backlash over matters that include soaring house prices, a growth in the number of foreign workers and rising income inequality.
The PAP still maintains a large majority in parliament, with 81 of 87 seats, but political opposition is strengthening amid a more intense national political debate.
Murray Hiebert, a senior fellow at the Washington Centre for Strategic and International Studies' south-east Asia Program, said the closely fought race showed Singaporeans were divided between those who wanted to give the government a vote of confidence and those who wanted a more independent president.
Mr Tan received 35 per cent of about 2.1 million votes in Saturday's election, beating former MP Tan Cheng Bock by just 7269 votes.
Election officials ordered a recount because of the closeness of the vote.
"I plan to work my utmost for Singaporeans, whatever be their political affiliation," Mr Tan said. "The presidency is above politics.''
