SINGAPORE – Former National Solidarity Party (NSP) secretary general Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss has quit the party and applied to join the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), helmed by veteran politician Chiam See Tong.
The 51-year-old lawyer, who lost a bid to become NSP president in party polls held in January, left along with former council members Ravi Philemon, 46, and Bryan Long, 37, and party member Osman Sulaiman, 39.
Speaking before she joined Mr Chiam and his wife, Non-Constituency MP Lina Chiam, for a walkabout at Bishan Street 24 on Sunday, she acknowledged that their decision to leave came in the wake of the central executive committee (CEC) election results.
But she said that she and the others harboured no acrimony towards the NSP.
Mrs Chong-Aruldoss, who joined the party in 2011 and became its secretary-general in October 2013, tendered her resignation last week
So too did Mr Philemon, a community worker, and Mr Long, an entrepreneur. Both joined the NSP in July 2012 and were co-opted into the party’s previous CEC.
Mr Osman, a human resources executive, joined the NSP in April last year. He contested in Ang Mo Kio GRC in the 2011 general election as part of the Reform Party’s team.
All except Mr Osman have submitted their applications to join SPP. These are pending the approval of the party’s central executive, which is expected to meet this month.
At the NSP’s CEC election in January, Mrs Chong-Aruldoss challenged party stalwart Sebastian Teo, 66, for presidency, while Mr Philemon stood against lawyer Tan Lam Siong, 53, for the secretary-general position. Mr Teo and Mr Tan won by a landslide.
On Sunday, Mrs Chiam, who is the SPP chairman, said of the four: “They have good potential and they will help spearhead our party even more to greater heights.”
While she did not want to say when asked whether the SPP will contest in Potong Pasir at the next general election – which must be held by January 2017 – Mrs Chiam said that it will put together a “very strong team” to contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
Source: www.straitstimes.com
