Progress Singapore Party loses another member as Ravi Philemon resigns

Opposition politician Ravi Philemon announced on Thursday (14 May) that he has resigned from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) two days prior. However, he declined to state the reasons for his departure.
Mr Philemon was one of 10 people who were named by former party member Daniel Teo in a controversial video in which he claimed that the PSP was being funded by foreign sources. The party has denied these claims. Mr Teo was subsequently expelled from the party.
PSP issued a statement on 11 May saying that it was satisfied that all members implicated in the “libellous accusation” are “all exonerated and 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.”
When questioned if the video was a factor in his decision to resign, Mr Philemon told Channel NewsAsia that it was a “series of events” linked to the video, though it was not the direction cause of his resignation.
“I can tell you that resigning was not my first course of action, it was perhaps my last course of action,” said the former PSP member who contested in the Hong Kah North Single Member Constituency (SMC) in the 2015 elections.
Following the release of the video, Mr Philemon had lodged a report over it. However, following an apology from Mr Teo, he later said he would not be pursuing the matter further.
On whether he would consider joining another party, Mr Philemon merely stated that he is keeping his options open.
“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 added.
The party itself has confirmed Mr Philemon’s resignation but declined to comment futher on the matter. A PSP spokeswoman said, “For voluntary resignations, we do not disclose reasons out of respect for the privacy of our ex-members,”
This is the second notable PSP member with prior political background to have left the party in recent months. In March, former vice-chairman of the party Michelle Lee exited. Also in March, Jan Chan was expelled from the party for writing a post on Facebook that was religiously “insensitive and offensive”.