SINGAPORE today (Feb 15) brings into effect rules banning foreign groups from donating funds to political parties in the city state.

Officials said the Political Donations Act, passed by parliament last May, was aimed at rooting out alleged foreign interference in the country's internal affairs.

Under the terms of the new law, so-called "permissible donors" are restricted to Singaporean nationals at least 21 years old and Singaporean companies that undertake most, or all, of their business in their country. Besides foreign nationals and groups, those barred from making donations include local trade unions, charitable groups and professional firms.

The Act also requires Singapore's political parties, election candidates and election agents to identify backers who have given more than S$10,000 in a single donation or series of donations.

"The Act seeks to prevent foreign groups from interfering in our domestic politics through donations to political associations, and candidates in both the presidential and parliamentary elections," a government official said. "The Act prohibits political associations and candidates . . . from accepting donations from persons or bodies that are not permissible donors, and restricts the receipt of anonymous donations."

The Act will govern the next general elections, which must be held before August next year. But with economic growth slowing and the regional picture increasingly unsettled, many commentators believe Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong may opt for polls well ahead of the deadline.

Speculation has centred on a post-Budget election as early as April this year.

Mr Goh's People's Action Party has won all general elections since independence in 1965 and dominates the political landscape.

The Act also requires candidates to post a "pre-election donation report" to be eligible to contest the polls.

This will detail all donations received over the preceding 12 months that exceed S$10,000 in total.

In another development, police warned that official approval will be needed to stage rallies at Speakers' Corner, a government-designated forum for free speech in a park near the banking district.

It was established in September and supposedly modelled after its namesake in London's famed Hyde Park.

The police imposed the guideline following an investigation into a rare rally by a handful of activists held on International Human Rights Day in December to demand greater political freedom.