and the rest of the party's Central Executive Committee were soon to emerge. Internal party disputes in 1993 In 1993, three months after joining the SDP, Chee was dismissed by the NUS for allegedly using research funds to pay the courier fees (under $200) to send his wife's PhD dissertation to the United States, which Chee claimed that this was not the case as his wife was an employee in the same department at NUS at that time and was working with him, sharing and collaborating in their research, and that the funds were properly used. Chee claimed that there was a political motive behind his dismissal, but the PAP denied the accusation; Chiam wanted to censure Chee for his comments, but the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) backed Chee. Chiam then relinquished his party's Secretary-General post to Chee, before he proceed to publicly criticise the CEC, and won a court case to prevent the party from expelling Chiam (as well as vacating his Potong Pasir seat) from SDP on procedural grounds; however the CEC appointed Ling to replace Chiam as the party's parliamentary leader. Supporters of Chiam left the SDP and formed the Singapore People's Party (SPP) in 1994, with former SDP member Sin Kek Tong as its pro-tem leader. After Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 1997 general election, Chiam left the SDP to join the SPP and became the new party's leader. Leadership under Chee Soon Juan (since 1993) 1994–2000 After being placed as the acting SDP leader in 1993, Chee began expressing his views on the lack of democracy in Singapore to the media. He published his second political book, Dare To Change: An Alternative Vision for Singapore, in 1996. This view had since led to the attention of the PAP's Organizing Secretary Matthias Yao; ahead of the 1997 elections, Chee publicly issue a challenge to stand against Yao (who he accepted) in his constituency of MacPherson. At the 1997 general election, the SDP suffered significant electoral setbacks with SDP failing to win a single seat since 1984, including incumbents Cheo and Ling, as well as Chee. Their party's vote also dropped from 48.6% down to 33.1%, and no SDP members until now have been elected since. However, former SDP Member Chiam, now a SPP candidate, succeed in retaining his Potong Pasir seat, alongs WP's Low in his Hougang ward; Chiam and Low were also the