Reform Party

The Reform Party is a political party in Singapore. It was founded in 2008 by the late J.B. Jeyaretnam, and is currently headed by his son Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who succeeded him as party secretary-general after the elder Jeyaretnam died in 2008. The party participated in its first elections during the 2011 General Election but did not win a seat.

History

The Reform Party was formed by lawyer and politician J.B. Jeyaretnam. Jeyaretnam had been the first opposition candidate to be elected Member of Parliament under the Workers' Party of Singapore banner after a period of about 16 years when there was not a single opposition Member of Parliament in Singapore.

In 2001, he was successfully sued for libel by Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong and was made to pay total damages of S$565,000 and court costs of S$270,000. Following a damages instalment overdue by one day, J.B. Jeyaretnam was declared bankrupt, disbarred and barred from participating in any elections. He also resigned from the Workers' Party of Singapore, where he had been its secretary-general. He authored the books Make it Right for Singapore and The Hatchet Man of Singapore and was often seen promoting his books outside Centrepoint, a shopping centre on Orchard Road. He was eventually discharged from bankruptcy in 2007.

J.B. Jeyaretnam then formed a new political party. The Reform Party was officially registered with the Registrar of Societies on 3 July 2008 and J. B. Jeyaretnam was its first and interim Secretary-General.

On 30 September 2008, J.B. Jeyaretnam died following a heart attack.

Lead up to General Elections 2011

On 10 April 2009, the Central Executive Committee appointed J.B. Jeyaretnam's son Kenneth to the post of Secretary-General, while also successfully passing a vote of no confidence in then-Chairperson Ng Teck Siong amidst differences with Kenneth Jeyaretnam.[1] In an interview in 2010, Kenneth Jeyaretnam explained that when he took over the Reform Party, the party was "quite in a bad state".[2] Ng subsequently refuted these claims and alleged that the party was in good shape till the point he resigned.[3]

On May 8, 2010, breaking away from tradition in Singapore politics where election candidates are announced near the election and after the electoral boundaries are confirmed, the Reform Party announced its six candidates for the coming election. The candidates included Kenneth Jeyaretnam, but others have resigned since the announcement.[4]

Talks on forming the alliances 2010-2011

On May 6, 2010, the Reform Party announced that it would seek to join the Singapore Democratic Alliance.[5] However, the talks on an alliance stalled[6] soon after a leak of its 11 conditions for an alliance.[7] An announcement on the Reform Party's website in November 2010 indicated that it had abandoned talks to join the SDA but remained open to co-operating with the SDA's (now former) main component party, the Singapore People's Party (SPP). Since then there has been at least one SPP candidate that has been on loan to the Reform Party to add weight and experience to its team of candidates in the 2011 General Elections.

Early 2011 resignations

Several members of the Reform Party switched camps in early 2011.[8] They included James Teo, J. Sivalingam, Justin Ong, Jeannette Aruldoss, and Tony Tan, who had been slated to be Reform Party candidates. Others who left included Hazel Poa, Samantha De Silva, Gan Theng Wei and Nicole Seah.[9] Tan Tee Seng also resigned.[10] Given the incident's proximity to the general election, the question whether the resignations may have been deliberately intended to inflict damage on the new party was speculated upon by The Straits Times. This suggestion was firmly denied both by Kenneth Jeyaretnam and by several of the individuals in question.[11][12] The alleged difficulty in working together was also cited as a possible reason for their departure, a claim Kenneth Jeyaretnam has also firmly denied.[13] After the incident, both the party and the members who resigned expressed admiration for each other but disappointment that the matter could not be resolved.[14][15]

Reform Party Candidates in General Election 2011

West Coast GRC

• Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Hedge Fund Manager)
• Andy Zhu Lai Cheng (Property Manager)
• Kumar Appavoo (Company Director)
• Frankie Low Chiak Huan (Businessman)
• Ho Soak Harn (Scholar and Researcher)

Ang Mo Kio GRC

• Alex Tan Zhi Xiang (Financial Adviser)
• Arthero Lim Tung Hee (Film Producer)
• Vignes Ramachandran (Educator)
• Lim Zi Rui (Undergraduate)
• Mohamed Mansor bin Abdul Rahman (Unionist)
• Osman bin Sulaiman (Human Resource Supervisor)

Election Rally Speeches 2011

In his first election rally speech in late April 2011, Kenneth Jeyaretnam said the objective of the Reform Party was to win a few seats in the coming May 2011 general election, adding that competition in politics will lead to better and more intelligent policies for Singapore. He also sounded a warning that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) will likely open the floodgates to more foreigners to enter Singapore again once they form the next government. "Already you can see that. The Reform Party was the first to talk about how the government's track record was hollow. They always talk about the high rate of economic growth, but the economic growth is created just by bringing in cheap foreign labour. It is not created by raising the incomes of Singaporeans," he said. Jeyaretnam criticized the ruling PAP for failing to improve the lives of ordinary Singaporeans as their median incomes have remained stagnant over the last few years, attributing this to the PAP's open-door policies to immigrants. "If at this election you don't take action now, you will expect the floodgates to open again," he warned. Due to the PAP's liberal and pro-immigrant policies, foreigners now make up 40% of the island nation's population, up from 14% in 1990. Of the remaining 60% who are citizens, an increasing number are new citizens who were born overseas. Jeyaretnam took the stance that the 2011 election might be the last window of opportunity for native Singaporeans to reclaim ownership of their country after which they may be relegated to being a minority in their own country.

External links

• The Reform Party — Official website