The Think Centre, a civil rights group with strong connections to Mr Jeyaretnam, said that he wanted new blood in the post, which he took up 31 years ago.

If confirmed, the decision could bring to a close a chapter in the city-state's modern political history.

[According to a Strais Times report, May 1, Mr Jeyaretnam conveyed his decision to party cadres in a notice on its annual general meeting to be held on May 27.]

Mr Jeyaretnam is Singapore's best-known anti-establishment figure, breaking the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) monopoly on power with his 1981 by-election victory.

In the years that followed, Mr Jeyaretnam, a lawyer by training, engaged in legendary fierce debates with Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister, also a lawyer.

Although Mr Jeyaretnam and his colleagues failed to make much electoral headway against the PAP, which still dominates the political landscape, he has long since become part of its country's national scene. Neither Mr Jeyaretnam nor Workers' Party officials were available for comment last night.

The Think Centre said that a party meeting had been called for May 27 to discuss Mr Jeyaretnam's resignation.

The news comes just days after opposition groups, including the Think Centre, sponsored a fund-raising rally in support of Mr Jeyaretnam, who faces expulsion from parliament after being declared a bankrupt.

The court judgment came this year after Mr Jeyaretnam failed to make a libel payment according to an agreed schedule.

PAP leaders and members have often sued opposition politicians, including Mr Jeyaretnam, for libel and defamation. They claim that such tactics are necessary to uphold their own integrity and that of the wider political process.

Under the Singapore constitution, a bankrupt may not seek election. The next polls are due by August next year. Mr Jeyaretnam, 76, is a Non-Constituency MP under a mechanism designed to allow a minimal level of opposition representation in the 93-member house.

At the weekend fund-raising gathering, which was attended by about 2000 people according to local media reports, Mr Jeyaretnam spoke for 90 minutes, telling the crowd that their presence made him feel 50 years younger.

In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Mr Jeyaretnam said that he remained committed to the opposition cause after more than three decades on the political frontlines.

"Of course there are some times when I tell myself, 'Aren't you getting a bit tired of all this?'," he said then. "But that is only momentary and I come back to it all the more determined to stand [for election]."

It appears that Mr Jeyaretnam's determination may have at last run out.