'Unacceptable' for foreign entities to tell S'poreans how to vote: MHA to M'sia Islamist party PAS

The Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has questioned the latest claims by the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) that its comments on Singapore politics ahead of the 2025 general election were unlikely to influence Singaporeans.

"Their clear intent was to influence Singaporean voters", MHA said of the Malaysian political party, in a statement on Oct. 16.

"It is not for foreign entities or individuals to tell Singaporeans how to vote, least of all along racial and religious lines," MHA said.

"That is divisive and unacceptable", and "not how politics and political parties are organised in multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore".

What did PAS do?

On Apr. 24, 2025, PAS National Treasurer Iskandar Abdul Samad publicly expressed support for the Workers’ Party’s candidate Faisal Manap, MHA pointed out.

He praised Faisal for having "the courage to explain to Parliament that in Islam religion must not be separated from politics", and hoped Faisal "will be successful once again".

These remarks were "serious interference in Singapore's elections", MHA said.

As a result, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) issued corrective directions to Facebook's parent company Meta to block access to the Facebook posts of the PAS members who had interfered in the election.

PAS's position

In a statement on Oct. 15, PAS's secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said that PAS was cast as a "convenient boogeyman to advance domestic political agendas in Singapore".

He called the Apr. 24 remarks "ordinary cross-border commentary" that was unaccompanied by funding, actions, coordination, or directives, and thus should not be classified as interference.

He was responding to Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam's ministerial statement in Parliament on Oct. 14, in which Shanmugam highlighted PAS members' actions as an attempt to urge Singaporeans to vote along racial and religious lines.

Disputing Hassan's claims, MHA said that his latest statement contradicts his party's earlier position.

On Apr. 28, 2025, PAS released a statement distancing itself from its members' actions on Apr. 24, saying that the comments represented personal views of the respective PAS leaders rather than the party's official stance.

PAS contradicted itself

However, PAS now characterises the comments by its members as expressions of the party's official view, MHA asserted.

MHA questioned PAS's true position, adding that "as a Malaysian Islamist political party, PAS cannot have Singapore’s best interests at heart".

It added that PAS's latest statement contradicts its earlier position on Apr. 28.

MHA acknowledged that foreigners, including foreign media, are entitled to comment on Singapore's policies and politics.

"But 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," MHA said.

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Top images from Takiyuddin Hassan's Facebook and Govsg YouTube