KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 — PAS treasurer Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad has denied accusations that he was attempting to influence Singapore’s ongoing general election through his Facebook postings.

In a statement, Iskandar also slammed Singapore government’s attempt to link his Islamist party and the opposition Workers’ Party (WP) — calling it “preposterous and counterproductive”.

“I do not believe my Facebook page is influential even in Malaysia and was shocked when it was blocked and cannot be accessed in the republic,” he posted on Facebook.

“Therefore, I am still wondering what the true intention was, but I hope that it was not to link my party to the opposition as such attempt is preposterous and will be counterproductive.”

Iskandar explained he was merely sharing information about notable Muslim candidates from WP, as well as a video of a young Muslim candidate from the rulingPAP introducing himself to voters.

The former Selangor exco explained that his posts were aimed at his predominantly Malay Muslim audience in Malaysia and were not intended to sway voters in Singapore.

“I had never urged the voters to vote along racial and religious lines,” he said, adding that while he expressed hope that some Muslim candidates would win, he did not know them personally and had never met any of them.

Iskandar noted that the only Singaporean politicians he had met were from the PAP, including ministers and MPs, and joked that this could equally be seen as a PAP connection.

“As a politician, I cannot be faulted for having an interest in the political developments of other countries apart from Malaysia,” he said, citing his previous writings on UK politics and his support for the Labour Party during their last general election.

“However, it would be ridiculous to accuse me of interfering with the election process of that country. I have also commented on the politics of other countries as well without any repercussions.”

On Friday, Singapore told Meta to block local access to several Facebook posts by foreigners allegedly attempting to influence the city-state’s upcoming election.

The posts were made by two leaders from the Malaysian Islamist party PAS, and an ex-Singaporean who is now an Australian citizen. - malaymail