Singapore — With opposition Singapore People’s Party (SPP) chairman Jose Raymond stepping down from politics in order to focus on business, the party has made known it will remain in Potong Pasir.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (Jan 17), the SPP said that it had accepted Mr Raymond’s resignation, which took effect the previous day.
It wished “Jose all the best for his future business endeavours” and added “we will continue to work the ground in Potong Pasir for GE 2025″.
Mr Raymond contested in Potong Pasir Single-Member Constituency in last year’s General Election. The seat was won by the incumbent, the People Action Party’s (PAP) Sitoh Yih Pin, for the third time.
Mr Sitoh won 60.67 per cent of the vote to Mr Raymond’s 39.33 per cent.
The party’s vice-chairman, Mr Williiamson Lee, will be the acting chairman until the end of the year, when its next ordinary party congress is scheduled.
The SPP also announced that Mr Melvyn Chiu and Mr Khan Osman Sulaiman had “successfully” been co-opted into the party’s Central Executive Committee to better serve the party and the people of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
Both men had been part of SPP’s Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC slate last year along with Mr Lee and party secretary-general Steve Chia.
Mr Chiu is a business owner and used to be a member of the SingFirst party, under whose banner he contested in the 2015 elections.
Mr Sulaiman is also a business owner and was once part of the Reform Party. He was its candidate in the 2011 and 2015 elections.
The PAP won in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC with 67.26 per cent of the vote. Although it lost, the SPP gained ground in the GRC, with 6.33 per cent more votes compared with its 2015 result.
And while Mr Raymond is resigning from the political arena, he has emphasised that he will continue to serve and make a positive impact on the lives of others… “and it does not need to be in politics”.
In a Facebook post on Dec 22, 2020, Mr Raymond thanked the people who had become friends and supported him in his political journey, mentioning them by name before writing “and so many, many, many more. Hundreds”.
“The journey was indeed exciting, and I have learnt so much from being able to hear from so many of you, and to have been able to help some of you.
“I came with an objective to help, and expected nothing in return,” he said. /TISG
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