SINGAPORE, Oct 17 — Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has criticised Malaysia’s Islamist party PAS for comments it said amounted to interference in the city-state’s elections, warning that it is “not for foreign entities or individuals to tell Singaporeans how to vote”.

“That is divisive and unacceptable. It may be how politics and political parties are organised in other countries. 

“But it is not how politics and political parties are organised in multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore,” the ministry said yesterday, according to a report by CNA.

The response came after PAS issued a fresh statement disputing Singapore’s handling of comments made by its members earlier this year during Singapore’s general election, which took place on May 3.

MHA accused PAS of reversing its earlier position, saying the party had initially distanced itself from remarks made in April by PAS national treasurer Iskandar Abdul Samad and PAS Selangor Youth chief Mohamed Sukri Omar.

On April 24, Iskandar had expressed support for Workers’ Party candidate Faisal Manap, praising him for having “the courage to explain to parliament that in Islam religion must not be separated from politics”, and adding that he hoped Faisal “will be successful once again”.

The same day, Mohamed Sukri reposted a social media post claiming that the People’s Action Party’s Malay-Muslim MPs “cannot be trusted”.

“This was a serious interference in Singapore’s elections,” MHA said, as cited by the Singapore-based news outlet.

Singapore’s MHA and Elections Department later blocked the posts and issued a joint warning about the dangers of foreign interference and the mixing of religion with politics.

PAS at the time said those statements represented “personal views” and that Singapore had “every right under the law to take any appropriate and reasonable measures to protect and safeguard their legitimate interests”.

However, MHA said the party’s latest statement contradicts that position, as PAS now characterises those comments as its official view and claims a right to comment on Singapore’s politics, so long as it does not involve “funding, actions, coordination or directives”.

“What is PAS’s true position?” the ministry asked. 

“As a Malaysian Islamist political party, PAS cannot have Singapore’s best interests at heart. 

As Minister Shanmugam stated in Parliament: Does anyone seriously believe that PAS is supporting the Workers’ Party’s Malay-Muslim candidates in Singapore, because PAS cares for Singaporeans? Or that PAS subscribes to Singapore’s model of multi-racial, multi-religious equality and meritocracy?”

MHA said such remarks were clearly intended to influence voters and warned that attempts to stir racial or religious sentiments, particularly during elections, would not be tolerated.

“The Singapore government will not stand by if a foreign actor attempts to influence Singaporeans for its own purposes, especially by rousing racial and religious sentiments and during elections,” the ministry said.

It added that while foreigners may have views on Singapore’s politics, those views “must never cross the line into interference”.