Red Dot United registration approved, says it is ready to contest general election

[SINGAPORE] A record 12 opposition parties could contest the next general election after the the registration of Red Dot United (RDU), a new political party set up by former Progress Singapore Party (PSP) members, was approved.

Despite just being formed less than a month ago, the party said it is already prepared to field candidates.

Secretary-general Ravi Philemon, 52, told The Straits Times on Thursday that the party had previously said that it is ready for the next general election, and now that it is registered, it is "even more ready".

A Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) spokesperson confirmed that the party was registered on June 15, though she did not indicate if the request was expedited.

MHA previously said that the average processing time for registering a new political party would be about two months. RDU was registered on May 26, and its approval comes after just three weeks.

"We are grateful that the MHA has been very helpful and efficient," said Mr Philemon. "We requested for the ROS (Registry of Societies) to expedite our registration, and we are happy that they considered it."

He said that the party was told the approval needs to be gazetted before it is made official, and that would happen on Thursday or Friday.

There are also other approvals that the party is working on, such as getting its symbol approved.

When asked if he will return to contest Hong Kah North SMC in the next general election, Mr Philemon said it is too early to comment on that.

"Right now we just got our approval. The CEC (central executive committee) has not met yet. We have to discuss as a party," he said.

Mr Philemon contested the ward under the Singapore People's Party banner in 2015. The Straits Times understands he was also the PSP's intended candidate for the constituency, before he quit in May. The MP for the ward is PAP's Amy Khor.

THE STRAITS TIMES