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MEP
Graham Watson, Leader of ALDE
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Gagged Euro MPs slam
'authoritarian' Singapore
AFP
13 Apr
07
http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1176472813.68
Singapore
acted like an "authoritarian state" by gagging members
of the European parliament in a move that could hinder efforts to
reach a partnership and co-operation agreement, the MEPs said
Friday.
The seven MEPs along with a Cambodian and a
Congresswoman from the Philippines said Singapore denied them
permission to speak Friday night at a forum to discuss the
development of democracy in Asia and Europe.
"I fear
that, in this sense at least, it puts Singapore in a league with
North Korea, Myanmar and the People's Republic of China,"
Graham Watson, a United Kingdom Member of the European
Parliament, told a press conference.
"Now that is not
where I believe Singapore is, or where I believe Singapore should
be."
Watson, who leads the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe (ALDE), said they were conducting a
parliamentary mission to Singapore and had come from Indonesia
where they spoke at a forum without any interference.
"What
has happened today proves that Singapore is an authoritarian
state," said Ignasi Guardans, a Spanish MEP.
The
Cambodian and Philippines delegates represented the Council of
Asian Liberal and Democrats (CALD).
The ALDE-CALD
delegates were invited to address the forum organised by their
sister party, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) led by Chee
Soon Juan, one of a few in Singapore to have spoken out against
the People's Action Party (PAP) which has ruled since 1959.
Chee
has had numerous battles with local authorities.
Singapore's
Ministry of Home Affairs said the SDP applied to police for a
licence to hold the public forum, and asked the ICA for
professional visit passes "for several foreigners"
invited to speak at the event.
"The police and ICA
respectively have rejected the SDP's applications for a permit to
conduct this public forum and for professional visit passes for
the foreign speakers on the ground of public interest," the
ministry said in a statement.
"Singapore's politics
are reserved for Singaporeans. As visitors to our country,
foreigners should not abuse their privilege by interfering in our
domestic politics."
On its website, SDP said the
forum was to "register your disgust" at pay hikes for
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, cabinet ministers and civil
servants.
The pay rises have sparked rare public fury in
the conservative city-state.
But the MEPs said they did
not come to discuss Singapore's internal affairs.
Watson
said Singapore's decision "will not help with the difficult
task" of finalising a partnership and cooperation agreement
which both sides began discussing about two years ago.
Such
agreements provide rules that govern trade, exchange of criminal
suspects, return of refugees and other issues while including
clauses about respect for human rights, he said.
"The
refusal to allow a basic political dialogue on issues of common
concern clearly makes it more difficult to negotiate any such
agreement," he said.
Ambassador Holger
Standertskjold, head of the European Commission's delegation to
Singapore, said the EU "regretted" that the MEPs could
not speak at a public meeting organised by another legally
recognised political party.
The forum was to proceed with
speakers from the SDP, while the foreign delegation vowed to
remain silent, and would return to Europe Friday night.
"We
are not terrorists. We are not dangerous radicals," Watson
said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said Chee's party is
free to organise public meetings "provided they do so
lawfully."
Since independence in 1965, Singapore has
grown from a third-world country to an Asian economic
powerhouse.
But critics say this has come at a price, in
the form of restrictions on freedom of speech and political
activity.
Singapore
restricts debate on ministers' pay
Reuters
13
Apr
07
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/13/singapore.speakers.reut/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Singapore has banned seven foreigners,
including three members of the European Parliament, from speaking
at an opposition party debate on Friday on a big pay hike for
ministers and civil servants.
The government said this
week that ministers and senior civil servants would enjoy a 60
percent pay increase, giving them an average salary of S$1.9
million ($1.25 million).
The prime minister's pay is set
to jump to S$3.1 million - five times what the president of the
United States earns.
The announcement has drawn widespread
criticism from ordinary Singaporeans given the country's widening
income gap and the fact the city-state's ministers were already
among the highest-paid in the world.
The police told the
Singapore Democratic Party it could not hold a public forum on
Friday to discuss the increases, and the immigration authority
rejected applications for professional visit passes for the seven
foreigners the SDP invited to speak.
"Singapore's
politics are reserved for Singaporeans. As visitors to our
country, foreigners should not abuse their privilege by
interfering in our domestic politics," the Ministry of Home
Affairs said in a statement issued on its Web site late on
Thursday.
"Foreigners who abuse the privileges that
Singapore accords to guests and visitors, and meddle in
Singapore's domestic politics, are not welcome here," the
Ministry said.
The barred speakers include European
parliament members Graham Watson of the United Kingdom, Anders
Samuelsen of Denmark, and Lydie Polfer of Luxembourg, a former
deputy prime minister of that country.
Under Singapore's
Public Entertainments and Meetings Act, public speaking is
generally prohibited unless it has been licensed by the
government.
Singaporeans who wish to speak indoors do not
need to be licensed, but forums featuring foreign speakers
require a permit, the ministry said.
Chee Siok Chin,
sister of party leader Chee Soon Juan and a senior party member
herself, said the SDP would go ahead with the forum with local
speakers.
"You have this autocratic government coming
down and showing utter disrespect for our international peers.
I'm ashamed," she said on Friday.
She said the seven
foreigners barred from speaking at the forum are currently in
Singapore.
According to the SDP Web site, Chee Soon Juan
plans to speak at the forum and rebut remarks made by Lee Kuan
Yew, modern Singapore's first prime minister, about the
ministers' pay hike.
Lee said earlier this week that
Singapore should pay ministers competitive wages because the
city-state needs an "extraordinary government with
extraordinary government officers".
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