Our Constitution
CONSTITUTION OF THE REFORM PARTY
Article 1 – NAME
The Party shall be called and known as “The Reform Party” (hereinafter referred to as “the Party”).
Article 2 – PLACE OF BUSINESS
The place of business of the Party shall be 18A Smith Street, Singapore 058932 or as such the Central Executive Council may determine from time to time and approved by the Registrar of Societies. The Party shall carry out its activities only in places and premises which have the prior written approval from the relevant authorities, where necessary.
Article 3 – PHILOSOPHY OF THE PARTY
That every member of the society is born with fundamental rights which cannot be abrogated except in clearly defined circumstances spelt out in the Singapore Constitution and that it is the paramount duty of the society to promote the human dignity of its every single member.
Article 4 – OBJECTIVES
i) For the Party’s philosophy to be put into practice, the Party shall devote all its efforts to establish and maintain a government whose executive arm (the Cabinet) acts strictly under law and is held in check by:
a) A fully elected and sovereign Parliament as the voice of the people with the executive made answerable to Parliament for every decision and policy of the executive.
b) An independently appointed Judiciary to uphold the Constitution and protect the citizens’ rights from any interference by the Executive to deny the citizens fullest expression of their rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution.
ii) To secure to every member of the society his full political, social and economic rights.
iii) To effect a fairer and just distribution of the wealth of the country and to eliminate poverty.
Article 5 – MEMBERSHIP
i) Membership in the Party shall be open to all Singaporeans above the age of 18 who are not members already of another political party.
ii) Only members who are above 21 years of age shall have the right to hold office in the Party.
iii) Applicants for membership in the Party shall complete the prescribed form and sign the declaration to be made by them at the time of signing the form.
iv) The Central Executive Council may in its absolute discretion reject any application and shall not be required to state the reasons.
v) Every member shall pay a joining fee of $10.00 and an annual subscription of $20.00.
vi) The Central Executive Council shall maintain a register of members but which shall not be available for inspection by any persons unless authorized by the Central Executive Council.
vii) The Central Executive Council shall remove from the register the name of any members who subscription is in arrears from more than 6 months and shall notify the member that he has ceased to be a member of the Party.
viii) Any member may resign his membership in the Party by written notice to the Secretary-General of his intention to resign. The resignation shall take effect when the Secretary-General acknowledges in writing the receipt of the member’s letter.
Article 6 – THE PARTY CONFERENCE
i) The Party Conference shall be the supreme authority governing the Party in all matters of policy, direction, implementation of the Party’s policies and all activities of the Party. All decisions concerning the Party’s future shall be taken only by the Party Conference.
ii) The Party Conference shall be made up of:
a) The current members of the Central Executive Council.
b) Delegates elected by branches/designed area members and sections formed within the party to cater for sectional groups.
c) Only members in good standing for at least 2 years may be elected as a delegate or to the Central Executive Council.
d) Branch/area delegates shall be in the ration of one for every 10 registered members but shall not exceed 10 members from each branch/area.
e) Each section shall elect one member to the Party Conference.
iii) The Party Conference shall meet every two years. The first conference shall be held before the expiry of 3 years from the inauguration of the Party. The Central Executive Council may call for a Special Party Conference any time to seek its approval or mandate on any matter. A Special Party Conference may also be called upon requisition to the Secretary-General by at least 20% of the delegates representing at least 3 branches/areas. At least 20% of delegates eligible to attend the Party Conference present shall form a quorum. Notice of every Party Conference shall be sent to every member to reach him or her one month before the conference.
a) The Party Conference shall receive and approve it thought fit:
1) The report by the Secretary-General of the Party’s activities for the period from the preceding Party Conference.
2) The financial statement of the Party for the same period.
3) Any resolution of which notice has been given to the Secretary-General at least 7 clear days before the Conference.
b) The Party Conference shall elect from the delegates present:
1) The Chairman
2) The Secretary-General who shall be the Party’s Chief Executive
3) The Treasurer
4) Nine other members
who shall form the Central Executive Council.
iv) The chairman of the Party shall preside over all Party Conferences. In his absence, he shall delegate the duty to another member of the Central Executive Council.
v) The Party shall not establish branches without the prior approval in writing from the Registrar of Societies.
Article 7 – THE CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (CEC)
i) There shall be a Central Executive Council, also referred to as the “CEC” which is elected by the Party Conference.
ii) Subject tot he ultimate control exercised by the Party Conference, the CEC shall take all decisions for the Party and be responsible for formulating policies and all day to day activities of the Party.
iii) All members shall abide by any decision or order of the CEC unless and until such order or decision has been set aside by the Party Conference.
iv) The CEC shall exercise all disciplinary control over every member including any member of the CEC and if satisfied after due inquiry at which the member shall have a right to be heard that the member is guilty of misconduct incompatible with his membership in the Party or have acted in any manner prejudicial to the Party, the CEC may expel the member from the Party, or suspend his voting rights.
v) Any member aggrieved by any decision of the CEC under (iii) shall within 14 days appeal to the Party Conference which shall hear the member in a specially convened conference and either dismiss his appeal or reinstate him as a member of the Party.
vi) The Chairman and Secretary-General and such other person specifically authorized by the CEC shall be the only persons to speak to the Press on Party matters or affairs if approached but only the Chairman or the Secretary-General shall issue press statements on behalf of the Party.
vii) The Chairman will preside over the Party Conference and will decide on all procedural matters at the conference.
viii) The Secretary-General will submit the Secretary-General’s report and answer all questions arising out of his report as well as all other questions about the activities of the Party.
Article 8- FINANCE
i) The Treasurer of the Party shall keep all proper expenditure records required by accounting practice of all monies received by the Party and all expenses incurred.
ii) The Central Executive Council shall not receive or accept any donations from any person or organisation whose credentials are in question and shall vet all offers of donation before accepting them.
iii) The Party shall maintain a bank account into which all monies received shall be paid promptly except that the Treasurer may retain in cash a sum not exceeding $200.00 for expenses of the Party.
iv) The Party shall not borrow nor lend any monies.
v) Two (2) voting members, not being members of the Central Executive Council, shall be elected as Honorary Auditors at alternate Party Conference and will hold office for a term of 2 years only and shall not be re-elected for a consecutive term. The accounts of the Party shall be audited by a firm of Certified Public Accountants if the gross income or expenditure of the Party exceeds $500,000 in that financial year, in accordance with Section4 of the Societies Regulations.
a. They will be required to audit each year’s accounts and present a report upon them to the Party Conference.
b. They may be required by the Chairman to audit the Party’s accounts for any period within their tenure of office at any date and make a report to the Central Executive Council.
c. The financial year shall be from 1 April to 31 March.
Article 9 – ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT
The CEC shall decide whether the Party should participate in any election and shall nominate the Party’s candidates who shall be required to sign an undertaking to abide by all conditions imposed by the CEC for their acceptance as candidate and to abide by all directions of the Party Leader if elected to Parliament.
Article 10 – PARTY LEADER
Before taking their seats in Parliament and after any general election, members elected to Parliament shall meet to appoint from among them a Party Leader who shall hold office until dissolution of Parliament. All members of the Party in Parliament shall abide by all directions of the Party Leader subject to an appeal to the Central Executive Council but until the Central Executive Council overrules the Party Leader, all members shall abide by the Party Leader’s decision.
Article 11 – DISSOLUTION OF THE PARTY
i) The Party may not be dissolved except upon the vote of two-thirds of its current members obtained in a referendum agreeing to the dissolution.
ii) In the event the Party being dissolved as provided above, all debts and liabilities legally incurred on behalf of the Party shall be fully discharged and the remaining funds will be disposed of in accordance with the decision taken in the said referendum.
iii) Notice of dissolution shall be given within 7 days of the dissolution to the Registrar of Societies.
Article 12 – AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
i) The Party shall not amend its Constitution without the prior approval in writing of the Registrar of Societies.
ii) The Constitution may be amended at any Party Conference upon a resolution submitted by the Central Executive Council if two-thirds of the members attending the Conference and eligible to vote agree.
Article 13 – PROHIBITION
i) Gambling of any kind, excluding the promotion or conduct of a private lottery which has been permitted under the Private Lotteries Act Cap 250, is forbidden on the Party’s premises. The introduction of materials for gambling or drug taking and of bad characters into the premises is prohibited.
ii) The funds of the Party shall not be used to pay fines of members who have been convicted in court of law.
iii) The Party shall not engage in any trade union activity as defined in any written law relating to trade unions for the time being in force in Singapore.
iv) The Party shall not hold any lottery, whether confined to its members or not, in the name of the Party or its office-bearers, Council, Committee or members unless with the prior approval of the relevant authorities.
v) The Party shall not raise funds from the public for whatever purposes without the prior approval in writing of the Assistant Director Operations, Licensing Division, Singapore Police Force and other relevant authorities.
Article 14 – INTERPRETATION
In the event of any question or matter pertaining to day-to-day administration which is not expressly provided for in this Constitution, the Central Executive Council shall have power to use their own discretion. The decision of the Central Executive Council shall be final unless it is reversed at a Party Conference.
Article 15 – VISITORS AND GUESTS
Visitors and guests may be admitted into the premises of the Party but they shall not admitted into the privileges of the Party. All visitors and guests shall abide by the Party’s rules and regulations.