SINGAPORE: More than a year after veteran opposition politician Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam announced he was forming a new political party and making a political comeback, the Reform Party is now an officially-registered society.

The party — for which Mr Jeyaretnam serves as interim secretary-general — received approval from the Registry of Societies for its for application on Tuesday, confirmed party chairman Ng Teck Siong.

“We are very happy of course,” he told TODAY. “We never had any doubt the application would be approved ... we abided by all the rules and procedures.”

A press conference will be held in “a few days” to share details about the party’s plans, he added. The number of party members has remained unchanged at 10 since the party submitted its application in April. They include former Workers’ Party (WP) members James Teo and Praba Gopal, and former National Solidarity Party member Edmund Ng.

A minimum of 10 members, plus a constitution, are among the requirements for application to form a society. Mr Jeyaretnam, who could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, had said in April that he had difficulty recruiting members.

The approval of the Reform Party marks another milestone in the 82-year-old’s political career, who in 1981 became the first opposition candidate elected to the post-independence Parliament. He lost his seat after a court conviction and later fell out with the WP. Discharged from bankruptcy last May, he announced plans to form a new political party shortly after.

A party dinner will be held next month, which will be open to the public. - TODAY/sh