SINGAPORE – On July 11, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said it intends to designate the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as a politically significant person under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (Fica).
It is in the public interest to do so, given NTUC’s close nexus and symbiotic relationship with the People’s Action Party (PAP), MHA said.
Human rights group Maruah and non-governmental organisation Think Centre – both gazetted as political associations – were designated as politically significant persons in December 2023 when Fica’s provisions against interference via local proxies came into force. Singaporean businessman Philip Chan Man Ping was subsequently also designated as a politically significant person in February 2024.
The Straits Times recaps what the law is about, and what being a politically significant person entails.
Q: What is Fica?
Fica was passed in Parliament in October 2021 to strengthen the Government’s ability to prevent, detect and disrupt foreign interference in Singapore’s domestic politics conducted through hostile information campaigns and the use of local proxies.
It does not target Singaporeans or other local entities that express their views, unless they are being used by foreign entities as proxies for interference, said MHA.
To safeguard domestic politics, the law applies to two categories of people and organisations: defined politically significant persons and designated politically significant persons.
Q: Who is a ‘defined’ or ‘designated’ politically significant person?
Certain groups and individuals who are directly involved in Singapore’s political processes are defined as politically significant persons. These include political parties and their central executive committee members, political office-holders, MPs including Non-Constituency MPs and Nominated MPs, election candidates and their election agents.
An individual or group can also be designated as a politically significant person if the authorities assess that their activities are directed towards a political end, and that it is in the public interest that they be subjected to Fica’s measures to mitigate the risk of foreign interference. This is the case for NTUC.
Then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in April that he was a politically significant person because he was the PM and therefore had a nexus to Singapore politics.
“So being declared a politically significant person does not mean necessarily that you have done anything wrong. It is just to put everybody on notice, that you have either a foreign nexus or you are politically active,” he said in an interview.