Internal Conflict Occurred in Reform Party As Charles Yeo is Promoted to Party Chairman

Aside from master debater Jamus Lim, the star of GE2020 is undoubtedly Charles Yeo. Yeo became the focus of media attention after he attempted to give a speech in Mandarin during one of the Reform Party’s (RP) political broadcasts:

I say “attempted” because, as many netizens noticed, Yeo wasn’t exactly proficient in the language.

Nonetheless, he was applauded for trying his best and became a muse for memelords online.

me trying to wrap up my chinese oral to the examiner who's unimpressed #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/ADc4C5WUn9

— YEOLO™ (@tzehern_) July 3, 2020

Yeo’s first claim to fame was being meme-fied, but netizens soon realised that behind the memes and linguistic struggles was a man with genuine political acumen.

This is one of the reasons he was recently appointed his party’s chairman by secretary-general K Jeyaretnam.

The decision hasn’t gone over well with one party member, however.

Internal Dispute Occurred in Reform Party As Charles Yeo is Promoted to Party Chairman

On Wednesday (5 Aug), Jeyaretnam announced two new appointments in his party as part of an ongoing GE2020 review.

The first is that Yeo would be appointed Party Chair, and that Mahaboob Batcha would be the new treasurer.

Yeo, who was a volunteer leader for RP during GE2020, said he’s looking forward to supporting the secretary-general and pledges to do his best.

In his post, Jeyaretnam thanked the outgoing chairman and treasurer, Andy Zhu and Noraini Yunus, for their service.

Zhu, however, wasn’t too pleased with the move.

The outgoing chairman openly criticised the decision in a post on the official Reform Party Facebook account.

He called the move “undemocratic”, claiming the “matters and allegations against the Party Chair and Treasurer” hadn’t been finalised.

Zhu said the party’s central executive committee (CEC) was still deliberating the issue, adding that the party has 14 days to appeal based on its constitution.

The post was taken down, but Zhu subsequently shared it on his own Facebook page as well.

“I Have Refuted All the Allegations Against Me”

In an interview with The Straits Times, Zhu said his dismissal was “unfair” as he had “refuted” all the allegations against him.

The 37-year-old is referring to allegations that Jeyaretnam levelled against him regarding unapproved changes to RP’s payment methods.

According to ST, RP’s rules require all cheques for payments to be signed by the treasurer and one other CEC member.

Zhu explained that he had applied for PayNow and reactivated the party’s online banking account to make some pressing payments.

He claims he informed his fellow party members about the move, but then Jeyaretnam accused him of making payments using the wrong channels.

As a result, both Zhu and Noraini were suspended after GE2020. RP also held an inquiry for the two accused, where both were allowed to explain themselves.

After considering the evidence, the CEC decided to remove them from their posts.

Jeyaretnam Confirms Charles Yeo’s Appointment

Speaking to MS News, the RP chief confirmed that Yeo will indeed be appointed the party’s chairman, despite the pushback from Zhu.

He said that Zhu isn’t authorised to speak to the media on behalf of the party, and added that he is “dealing with it” at the moment.

The RP chief said that the CEC will be holding a party conference soon.

GE2020 is over, but it looks like the drama has only just begun.