MIC to appoint 125 parliament coordinators

MIC has decided to appoint coordinators in about 125 parliamentary constituencies having sizeable Indian voters next month, president Tan Sri S A Vigneswaran said.

“This is being done to make preparations for the party to contest in the next general election,” he said while opening the 78th Penang MIC convention here late Friday.

He said the party’s division and branch leaders must work hard to woo the Indian electorate.

“Previously the MIC was only allocated 10 parliament and 18 state seats to contest in 2018 and we also have to work hard in the remaining 115 parliament seats,” he said. MIC was denied the chance to contest in the last elections in 2022.

Vigneswaran said the party’s membership in Barisan Nasional (BN) were discussed in last Wednesday’s Central Working Committee meeting but did not give any indication of the decision made.

He said the party has made so much sacrifices but was not given a ticket to contest in the last general election by Barisan Nasional (BN).

“First we were made orphans and now we can call ourselves as refugees,” Vickneswaran said in an apparent reference to MIC and MCA questioning the remarks made by BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi regarding cooperation with Pakatan Harapan in the next general election.

The secretaries-general of MCA and MIC maintained that Barisan component parties were not consulted over Ahmad Zahid’s statement that Barisan would work with Pakatan.

Another point being disputed is Ahmad Zahid’s announcement that Barisan would not throw in its hat in areas where Pakatan partners are contesting.

“ MIC is a honourable party. It has never begged or requested for help from the other parties. The RM25 mil allocated by the Pakatan Harapan government is for the community. We can stand on our feet without depending on others,” he said.

In his speech, Vickneswaran lamented that despite the party working hard in many of the constituencies, the criticisms and questions come from opposition parties with a small number of Indian members.

“These people have no right to question us. They would not have contributed a single sen for the community or the university. They hardly did anything for the Indian community,” he said.

He said the other parties are not bothered about the issues of a community as they don’t represent a single community but MIC is a community-based party and cannot ignore the rights of the community.

On the proposed new MIC headquarters in Jalan Tun Ismail in Kuala Lumpur, he said a three tower block has been proposed and the model would be unveiled at the party general assembly on September 15.

Earlier Penang MIC chairman Datuk J. Dhinagaran said the party members should solidly stand with any decision taken by the party leadership.

“Whatever decision made by the party leadership is in the best interests and the future of the party. We must give our wholehearted support,” he said.

Dhinagaran also pointed out that for the first time, a prime minister has come to MIC headquarters to plead with the president for the party to campaign in the last general election.

“This only happened during Vicky (Tan Sri’s time). This shows the respect they have for the MIC leadership,” he said.