In a statement, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan described the allegations as a “political shortcut” meant to deflect attention from internal issues.
“PAS firmly rejects the attempt to cast our party as a convenient bogeyman to advance domestic political agendas in Singapore.
“We will not allow a false narrative to stand where ordinary cross-border commentary is sensationalised into a security threat for short-term partisan gain.”
Takiyuddin was responding to comments by Singapore’s coordinating minister for national security, K Shanmugam.
Shanmugam had on Oct 14 called for politicians to “resist the destructive temptation to use race and religion in election campaigns for easy political wins”, the Straits Times reported.
He singled out the reaction from the opposition Workers’ Party (WP) to remarks by self-styled religious teacher Noor Deros and politicians from PAS, saying the WP could have acted more quickly and been less ambiguous about its stance.
He also said political parties should “immediately, clearly and unequivocally” reject any such attempts to interfere in Singapore’s politics.
In April, Selangor PAS Youth chief Sukri Omar shared a post by Zulfikar Shariff, a former Singaporean citizen, who accused several Malay-Muslim MPs of failing to represent the Muslim community.
He said Singapore did not need another Malay MP who did not reflect their views.
PAS national treasurer Iskandar Abdul Samad also expressed support for a candidate in the Singapore election.
This led to the Singapore home ministry and elections department calling out the PAS leaders for allegedly trying to influence the country’s general election on May 3 with posts that could harm racial and religious harmony.
Takiyuddin however described as “disingenuous” the suggestion that Singaporean voters were so easily swayed by foreign views that their electorate must be “protected” from opinions which they could critically evaluate.
“Blaming outsiders for internal debates is a classic political deflection tactic that conveniently shifts the focus away from difficult domestic issues,” he said.
He said such tactics allowed leaders to rally the public against a fabricated threat, a task far easier than the hard work of crafting policy, building consensus, and addressing the actual concerns of citizens.
“It is a political shortcut that trades long-term problem-solving for short-term unity against a scapegoat.”