With just days left for Singaporeans to vote in the crucial 2025 general elections (GE2025) — about a year after the transfer of the national leadership baton — the Singapore Government is combating “foreign actors” who are trying to influence voting patterns.
In a series of X posts yesterday, serving Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong urged Singaporeans to reject online attempts to divide Singaporeans votes, and asked the electorate to “never mix race and religion with politics”. He warned: “No one wins if SG ends up more deeply divided.”
These messages from PM Wong came alongside the news that the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore had asked Facebook parent Meta to block some online posts on its social network, as per a joint statement from the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Elections Department Singapore (ELD).
Also read: Singapore: IMDA acts against online posts by foreigners ahead of GE2025
As this website reported: “The posts were written by two Malaysian politicians from the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and a former Singaporean, Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, who is now an Australian citizen. They talked about religion and politics and supported certain opposition candidates.”
Countering such external attempts to influence the internal politics of Singapore, the current prime minister spoke to the Singapore media and also made his point of view clear on X.
We must all reject identity politics, and never mix race and religion with politics. We must not let external actors exploit our differences to divide us or serve their own interests. No one wins if SG ends up more deeply divided. Let us continue to uphold our unity, and keep this oasis of peace and harmony going for many more years to come.
Singapore Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong
As the Singapore MHA and ELD informed the public, the posts that came under their scanner were illegal, because Singapore law did not permit foreigners to be involved in the general elections or to post political messages during the election period.
Singapore had its nomination day on April 23 and campaigning continues for nine days, with a day’s cool-off before the nationwide voting on May 3.
Calling the general elections, PM Wong said: “We are witnessing profound changes in the world. It is becoming more uncertain, unsettled and even unstable. The global conditions that enabled Singapore’s success over the past decades may no longer hold. That is why I have called this General Election. At this critical juncture, Singaporeans should decide on the team to lead our nation, and to chart our way forward together.”
