The Parliament of Singapore passes a bill that monitors Singaporean citizens and bodies that have relations with foreign organisations. For the opposition, too much discretionary power is left with the Home Affairs minister, putting freedom of expression at risk.
Singapore (AsiaNews) - The Parliament of Singapore approved a bill last night intended to prevent “outside influence” from interfering with the city-state’s internal affairs.
The Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act will potentially apply to a wide range of situations, aimed at monitoring the legality of the activities of Singaporean citizens and bodies in relations with foreign organisations.
The bill was approved by 75 votes against 11 against after ten hours of debate.
Faced with doubts over the law’s constitutionality and potential threats to the country’s democracy, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Law Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam said that the legislation would be enforced with the utmost transparency, but defended its necessity as part of an "overall strategy" to counter negative foreign influence on the country.
Other aspects of this strategy include boosting defence mechanism and improving the ability of Singaporeans to understand real or false narratives spread online or by other means.
During the debate, the opposition stressed above all the need to promote citizens’ capacity to reach independent judgement rather than pass a law that risks restricting freedom of expression and whose application will remain above all the prerogative of the competent minister.
For critics, the rules concerning political groups regarding donations, volunteering, declaration of affiliation remain open to doubt and non-transparent enforcement.
Among other things, the law requires groups to provide information about any amount of money they receive above 10,000 Singapore dollars (about U$ 7,365).
Concerns have also been raised about the risks the new law could pose to welfare organisations and charities that receive funds from abroad.
In response to such questions, Shanmugam insisted that the law does not limit the freedoms of citizens nor constrain their involvement in civic or political activity.