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SINGAPORE: Opposition politician Ravi Philemon has resigned from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP).
Mr Philemon confirmed on Thursday night that he had quit the party on Tuesday, but declined to say why.
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The managing partner of a media firm was one of 10 people named in a controversial video claiming that the PSP was funded by foreign sources, a charge the party has denied.
The video was made by former party member Daniel Teo, who has been expelled from PSP.
When asked if his resignation was because of the video, Mr Philemon said it was “a series of events” that were linked to that incident, but it was not the direct cause of his decision to quit.
“I can tell you that resigning was not my first course of action, it was perhaps my last course of action,” I added.
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READ: PSP refutes ‘insinuation’ of foreign influence and funding by ex-party member
On May 11, PSP issued a statement on the video, saying that it was “satisfied that the members implicated in this libellous accusation are all exonerated and are innocent”.
It added: “Moving forward, the party frowns upon the use of ‘dirty politics’ leading up the the General Election date and will stand united against any false slanderous attacks upon our members.”
Mr Philemon had made a police report over the video but said later that he would not pursue the matter after Mr Teo apologized.
The former member of the Singapore People’s Party had contested in Hong Kah North single member constituency in the 2015 General Election.
When asked if he would join another party, Mr Philemon said: “At this point it’s just been two days (since I resigned), so I have to keep my options open.”
“One thing for certain is, I will continue to be engaged in Singapore,” he said.
PSP confirmed that Mr Philemon had quit, but declined to say more. “For voluntary resignations, we do not disclose reasons out of respect for the privacy of our ex-members,” said a spokeswoman.
Singapore’s youngest political party has seen the expulsion of two members and the departure of at least two other members recently.
Former vice-chairman Michelle Lee left the party in March shortly after taking up the post. Besides Mr Teo, ex-member Jan Chan was expelled in March for writing a religiously “insensitive and offensive post” on Facebook.
