As Singapore gears up to fight foreign interference, could political critics be caught in the cross hairs?
- Law and home affairs minister K. Shanmugam has indicated the island nation is ready to combat external influence in its domestic politics
- But the proposed legislation is ringing alarm bells for critics of the ruling PAP, such as independent news portals New Naratif and The Online Citizen
The scourge of foreign interference in domestic politics may have surfaced now and then in Singapore over the years, but the political inoculation of citizens has been such that some tough talking and the booting out of so-called troublemakers will be enough to squelch it.
The minister’s speech on foreign interference at a conference organised by a local think tank offered the most detailed account yet on just how seriously his People’s Action Party (PAP) views the threat.
Shanmugam said in some instances foreign interference may pose a graver danger than conventional military force in destabilising a country, and the government’s planned new legislation to deal with the problem would give it powers to “make targeted, surgical interventions, to investigate and respond expeditiously to hostile information campaigns”.
The reaction to his remarks on Wednesday has been double edged. While few, even the PAP’s harshest critics, dispute the need to thwart foreign interference, there has been alarm at hints the impending legislation may have in its crosshairs the very same ardent critics of the ruling party.
Acutely fearing this concern are the people behind New Naratif, a rare independent news portal that covers Singaporean and Southeast Asian current affairs and organises classes on democracy.