
Reform Party to leave opposition alliance PAR by end of July
"Reform Party wishes to announce that regretfully we have resigned from People's Alliance for Reform," said RP secretary-general Mr Jeyaretnam in a Facebook post. "This will formally take effect at the end of July.
"We thank (PAR secretary-general) Lim Tean for his leadership and wish him and the other remaining parties in PAR all the best in the future."
The exit of RP leaves PAR with just PV and DPP. Formed in 2023, PAR was originally a four-party opposition alliance, including the People's Power Party (PPP). In February, the PPP withdrew from the alliance three months before the General Election, citing "irreconcilable strategic differences".
PAR lost in all six constituencies - Jalan Besar GRC, Tanjong Pagar GRC, Potong Pasir SMC, Radin Mas SMC and Queenstown SMC - that it contested at the General Election on May 3.
RP treasurer Mahaboob Batcha made his electoral debut as PAR's candidate in Queenstown SMC. The People's Action Party's (PAP) Eric Chua secured 81.13 per cent of the vote against Mr Batcha.
After the electoral defeat of all 13 PAR candidates, Mr Lim had vowed the alliance would 'reorganise and come back much stronger in four to five years' for the next General Election.
CNA has contacted Mr Lim and Mr Jeyaretnam for more information.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNA
15 minutes ago
- CNA
X says Indian government ordered it to block Reuters News accounts in India
NEW DELHI :India's government last week directly ordered X to block more than 2,000 accounts, including two belonging to Reuters News, the social media platform said on Tuesday in a sharp public attack on "ongoing press censorship" in India. Two Reuters News accounts - @Reuters and @ReutersWorld - were suspended for India users late on Saturday, and displayed a message saying they had been "withheld in IN (India) in response to a legal demand". The Reuters accounts were restored on Sunday night but the status of the others was unclear. X's statement contradicts comments by a spokesperson for India's Press Information Bureau at the weekend who said no government agency had required the withholding of Reuters handles. "On July 3, 2025, the Indian government ordered X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like @Reuters and @ReutersWorld, under Section 69A of the IT Act. Non-compliance risked criminal liability," X said in its post. "We are deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders. X is exploring all legal options available," it added. Reuters could not determine what specific content the blocking demand referred to and why its removal was sought. Section 69A of India's IT law allows the government to block public access to content "in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state". Orders issued under the section are confidential in nature. In a statement, India's IT ministry said the government had "not issued any fresh blocking order" on July 3. It did not say if an order was issued before that date. The government did not intend to block any prominent international news channel, including Reuters, and had written to X over the weekend to unblock the news agency's accounts, the ministry said. "X has unnecessarily exploited technicalities involved around the process and didn't unblock the URLs," it added. The social media platform in its statement said the Indian government had asked it to restore access to @Reuters and @ReutersWorld after a "public outcry." A Reuters spokesperson at the weekend said the news agency was working with X to get its accounts reinstated in India as soon as possible. On Tuesday, she said the agency had no further comment. The main Reuters account has more than 25 million followers globally, while Reuters World has 718,000. X has long been at odds with India's government over content-removal requests. In March, the company sued the federal government over a new government website the company says expands takedown powers to "countless" government officials. The case is continuing.


CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Singapore companies bracing for more uncertainty amid Trump's tariff letters
Singapore companies are bracing for greater uncertainty after US President Donald Trump sent letters announcing new tariffs as high as 40 per cent for some countries. The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) says firms are once again taking a "wait and see" approach. SBF's CEO Kok Ping Soon and Associate Professor Simon Tay, Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, talk about what it means for Singapore to not be issued the letters by President Trump. They also discuss what it means for Singapore businesses to be operating in a neighbourhood with so many different tariff rates.


CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
ASEAN expected to issue statement expressing concern over US tariffs
ASEAN is expected to issue a statement expressing concern over US tariffs and describing them as "counterproductive". This is according to a draft Joint Communique of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan is in Kuala Lumpur for the event, which will include talks with key dialogue partners.