Reform Party to leave opposition group PAR; two parties remain

The Reform Party (RP) will withdraw from the People's Alliance for Reform (PAR), leaving the opposition group with two of its four founding members.

- Goh Yan Han

The People's Power Party (PPP) did the same in February ahead of the general election on May 3, while the People's Voice (PV) and Democratic Progressive Party remain.

RP secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam announced his party's resignation, which takes effect at the end of July, in a post on the party's Facebook page on July 7.

"We thank Lim Tean for his leadership and wish him and the other remaining parties in PAR all the best in the future," he said, referring to Mr Lim, secretary-general of PV and the PAR.

Mr Jeyaretnam was the chairman of the alliance.

He told The Straits Times that RP had joined the alliance "primarily for logistics reasons" and to increase its candidate numbers and be allotted airtime.

The party still believes that the opposition needs to unite to be effective, and "will be open to joining another alliance or umbrella in the future", he added.