[SINGAPORE] All party leaders should make it clear that mixing religion and politics is unacceptable, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Saturday (Apr 26), a day after the Republic blocked election-related Facebook posts by two Malaysian politicians and a former citizen.
“I am calling this press conference… as prime minister, because it concerns a matter of national interest,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.
He flagged recent online activity by foreigners who urged Singaporeans to vote along religious lines and cited certain candidates as better able to represent a particular race or religion.
These messages targeted Singaporeans and were widely shared, he said. “That crosses the line.”
Singaporeans’ views may differ, but citizens cannot allow external actors to exploit these differences “to weaken us, or to advance their own interests”, he added. “Singapore’s politics must be for Singaporeans alone to decide.”
Besides foreign influence, he noted other online posts attempting to bring race and religion into politics, such as a proposal that Muslims vote for candidates who are willing to advance religious agendas.
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Even if such posts are made by Singaporeans, they should be rejected, he said. “And were a Christian, Hindu or Buddhist group making the same demand, our response would be the same.”
Setting out the dangers of mixing religion and politics, PM Wong said: “First, it fractures the common space we share as Singaporeans.
“Second, once elections become contests of faith, all communities in our society will end up worse off. Third, external powers will seek to exploit these fault lines to advance their own agendas.”
‘Not a partisan matter’
Said PM Wong: “This is not a partisan or party matter.”
He invited all party leaders to make their stand clear not just on foreign interference, but two fundamental principles: that identity politics has no place here, and that Singapore should never mix religion and politics.
While noting a “clear consensus” from party leaders on rejecting foreign interference, he called on them to go further. First, while they may not be able to control what others say, parties should “clearly and categorically reject” any such endorsements.
Second, when interacting with people whose positions can undermine national interests, parties should make their stance clear.
In such interactions, the PAP makes it clear that it does not agree with and cannot support these positions, said PM Wong. “And we will state that position clearly with people like that, privately and publicly.”
Earlier on Saturday, Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh said that the party does not push any individual’s agenda in exchange for support, and that its Malay-Muslim candidates represent all Singaporeans.
Singh was addressing a claim by Malaysia-based Islamic preacher Noor Deros, a Singaporean, who said that WP’s Malay-Muslim candidates had agreed to take up his concerns about the community.
Engagement versus identity politics
This does not mean that politicians cannot address the needs of different communities, nor talk about race and religion, PM Wong said.
His own engagements help the government understand the diverse concerns and needs of Singaporeans, he added. But this is different from identity politics, in which politicians appeal for support on the basis of race or religion, and champion the interest of that group over others.
When one group “jostles” to assert its identity, others will organise and “jostle back”, he added. “No one wins when this happens.”
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