Citing GE, minister urges WP to reject racial politics, foreign influence quickly and clearly

Any delay and ambiguity could give rise to questions and confusion, says Shanmugam

- Yan Liang Lim Deputy News Editor

Political parties must come out quickly and clearly to reject the mixing of religion and politics, and rebuff attempts by foreigners to interfere in Singapore’s political process, said Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam.

Citing the response by the Workers’ Party to such attempts to influence the Singapore electorate in its favour at the 2025 General Election, Mr Shanmugam told Parliament that any delay and ambiguity could give rise to questions and confusion, especially during a critical time like the campaign period.

In a ministerial statement to Parliament on Oct 14, Mr Shanmugam took issue with the timing and substance of the WP’s response when a self-styled preacher called on Singaporeans to vote along racial and religious lines in the election.

He also questioned the WP’s response when some Malaysian politicians openly endorsed the party’s candidate on social media, and sought agreement on how politicians and political parties here will conduct themselves in future should these issues arise again.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, noted that the WP had fielded party vice-chairman Faisal Manap to lead its Tampines team to contest against the PAP team led by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli at GE2025.

“That the Malay/Muslim vote in particular was being targeted was obvious — not just to Singaporeans, but pertinently also obvious to Malaysian observers,” he said.

On April 23, Singaporean Islamic preacher Noor Deros put up two Facebook posts that, among other things, portrayed Mr Faisal as a more vocal champion of Malay/Muslim issues than Mr Masagos.

The Malaysia-based preacher called on Tampines voters to “do the right thing” - which meant voting for Mr Faisal, said Mr Shanmugam.