Low Thia Khiang rejected accusations from party member Goh Yew Chye that the annual general meeting at which he replaced veteran MP J.B.Jeyaretnam as secretary general, breached party guidelines.

"If Mr Goh thinks the AGM is illegal and not in accordance with the party's constitution, he could always challenge it in court," Low said in a faxed reply to questions from AFP.

Local civil rights group Think Centre said Goh has already taken his grievances to the Registrar of Societies.

Describing Goh as a "spokesman for the disaffected members," Think Centre said he did not want to speak to the media, but his complaints about the AGM included a lack of a quorum, lateness, and that not all members were informed.

"According to him, these points were raised at the meeting but no answers were forthcoming. As such he felt that he had no choice but to bring up this matter to the Registrar of Societies," a Think Centre statement said.

But Low said 31 of the 60 Workers' Party members attended the AGM, there was no quorum stated in the constitution, and the start of the meeting was delayed to see if Jeyaretnam would turn up.

Only two notices of the meeting sent to all members were not delivered and "Goh's letter was not returned," he said.

Jeyaretnam, the Workers' Party leader for the past three decades, did not attend the meeting.

In 1981 he became the first person to break the ruling People's Action Party's monopoly in parliament, but now he is struggling for his political survival after being declared bankrupt.

He and Low are two of the three opposition MPs in the current 92 seat parliament.

A fund-raising rally organised by Think Centre this month to help Jeyaretnam who needs S$550,000 (US$305,000) raised just S$19,000.