January 26, 2024 7:25 PMBANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei - President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said all the roles he plays - including those taken up in his private capacity - further his duties as president, as well as Singapore’s national interest. These include chairing international bodies such as the Group of Thirty - a prestigious body of top financial experts - and co-chairing the Global Commission on the Economics of Water that aims to transform water governance. In Nov 2023, Parliament voted to amend the Constitution to allow current and future presidents to accept international appointments in their private capacities with certain conditions. Responding to a question about whether the constitutional change made a difference to his work, Mr Tharman said on Jan 26 that things are not very different from before. “Nothing I do is for private interest,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a state visit to Brunei. This is the first time he has commented on the matter since it was debated and passed in Parliament. He said: “The term ‘private capacity’ that’s used in the Constitution, is a bit of legalese, but it simply means that there are some roles I could play internationally where I have to express independent views, so that we are credible when I’m chairing various bodies, for instance. “They are all in furtherance of my presidential duties and the national interests,” he added. “That’s the basis on which Cabinet decides on which bodies I should play a role in, and it’s working well so far.” Since the Constitution was amended, the president has made working visits to New York and Switzerland. His visit to New York from Nov 27, 2023 to Dec 4, 2023 where he delivered a lecture at Columbia University as part of its World Leaders Forum series and had bilateral meetings. These were both done in his traditional Head of State role, said Mr Tharman. He also chaired the Group of Thirty where he had to “express myself independently even if everyone knows I am there as President.” Earlier in Jan 2024, he was on a working visit to Switzerland, where he went to Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, where he met with other heads of states and governments in his capacity as Singapore’s president. Some of the leaders he met included Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr Tharman also attended a meeting of the WEF Board of Trustees in Davos, and also co-chaired the Global Commission on the Economics of Water in Zurich. On both these occasions, he pointed out that he had to be “credibly independent, although I’m still there as President of Singapore.” Mr Tharman reiterated that being able to represent Singapore as its president and also share his independent views in his international appointments has been working well. He added: “I intend to be active in furthering Singapore’s interests abroad in both these roles.”