Singaporeans’ ability to hold the PAP publicly accountable needs strengthening

by Dr James Gomez

Singaporeans’ ability to hold the PAP dominated legislature publicly accountable needs to be strengthened. Nearly 70 years of uninterrupted PAP rule has either discouraged Singaporeans from demanding for accountability or removed their ability to do so.

How did this happen?

First, a slew of laws such as the Public Order Act, the 2017 Administration of Justice (Protection) Act, the Protection Against Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act, the Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill and defamation laws are responsible. Many have been fined, jailed and had their reputation damaged because their calls for public accountability have been judged to have broken the above laws.

For example, in its five-year lifespan, the Protection Against Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) has been deployed at least 151 times (POFMA Tracker, Kirsten Han) highlighting its significant role in regulating calls for public accountability online. Notably, civil society activists, individual commentators, and opposition politicians top the list of those “POFMA-ED”.

Second, there has been a rise in hate content and hate sites targeting those seeking to hold public officials accountable. Targets of such hate include activists, independent journalists, human rights lawyers, and opposition politicians and other concerned citizens and individuals. It reveals the existence of a coordinated agenda by anonymous trolls of the “PAP Brigade” to the re-branded “Friends of the PAP” to shield the PAP from calls for public accountability.

In the meantime, hate against voices of public accountability remain unregulated and normalized. In the absence of a safe online environment for expressing policy concerns and opinions, public accountability voices are further muffled as hate sites flourish unchecked, leading to systemic online harassment and intimidation.

Third, the consultations and dialogues sponsored or convened by the PAP dominated government and its agencies are curated spaces. These are by-invitation only or in selected open activities, conversations are “managed”. For example, should you find yourself in such a space, hold or articulate a different opinion or perceived likely to hold one, it is not unusual that your comments and views will be moderated or ignored. Private counselling is also not to be ruled out.

What is also less known in the public domain, is that if you are person who is politically exposed via involvement in an opposition party, or part of a civil society group advocating for a high-profile cause, or a high-profile public accountability commentator, you will also be put on a security list and not let in some government spaces. This affects your ability to conduct or even register a business. Security reasons are cited, but not publicly disclosed.

Space and safety to make calls for public accountability in Singapore has always been poor and have been declining under the PAP’s uninterrupted rule.

In Singapore, if it’s not you, a family member, a friend, you will still know of someone who has been either legally prosecuted, been a target of hate, and when in curated spaces – removed, shutdown, or counselled against raising or for raising issues of public accountability.

So how can we address this problem?

Come these elections, vote not only for more opposition, but opposition parties that can hold the PAP publicly accountable.

We cannot have a Parliament that is an echo chamber in which PAP politicians believe in their own propaganda, while everyone else who wants to hold the PAP publicly accountable is disempowered and abused.

For the concept of public accountability to be meaningful and public bodies to be truly answerable to Parliament, more opposition MPs are needed in the Singapore legislature.

Read also “Forward SG omits government accountability and responsibility” by Dr James Gomez. Dr Gomez is a political scientist and a member of the Singapore Democratic Party’s Central Executive Committee. He would like to hear from you at his email: [email protected]