Mr. Shanmugaratnam scores a big win to become Singapore’s next president. (Photo: VNA)

Other candidates, Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian, received 15.72% and 13.88%, respectively, according to the final result announced by the returning officer shortly after midnight on Saturday. 

More than 2.5 million Singaporeans went to the polls on Friday. Voter turnout was over 93% of eligible voters.

This has been the first contested presidential election in Singapore since 2011.

Addressing the media about the future he envisioned for Singapore, Mr. Tharman said, “It has to be a future in which Singapore is never treated as just another small country, a future where we are taken seriously in the world, we are a partner of choice, and where we can project our voice of reason internationally.”

Mr. Tharman, a 66-year-old former senior minister, will be sworn in as president on September 14, replacing Ms. Halimah Yacob.