A ‘political frog’ gift for Perkasa’s Ibrahim

A MIC branch chairman wants MIC to stop Perkasa chief Ibrahim from criticising BN component parties.

PUTRAJAYA: A MIC division chairman caused a stir when he brought a frog to the MIC annual general meeting (AGM) here today to express his disgust with Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali.

Calling Ibrahim a political frog, MIC Bukit Bintang division chairman T Ananthan took Ibrahim to task for questioning the non-Bumiputeras’ loyalty to the government when the party criticised the Public Service Department (PSD) for not offering scholarships to deserving Indian students.

“We are Malaysians. Why can’t PSD offer scholarships to all deserving Malaysian students? Education is a basic need for everyone,” said Ananthan, adding that the frog represents Ibrahim’s political inclination.

He also said that MIC should stop Perkasa, a Malay right-wing group, from criticising Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties.

Speaking at the sidelines of the MIC annual general meeting (AGM) today, he said Perkasa should stop its tirade against BN parties and learn to respect non-Bumiputera rights in the country as well.
“If BN fails to get two-thirds majority in the next polls, it will be Perkasa’s fault,” he added.

Ananthan also urged BN component parties to swap seats among themselves to increase the ruling coalition’s chances to win the next general election.

“Maybe voters were fed up of the same party and candidate being fielded in a constituency in the past. For example, we held Sungai Siput and Teluk Kemang for 49 years,” he said.

He added that whichever seat MIC may contest, it would be the Malay votes that would determine the party’s victory.

“Though there may be substantial Indian voters there, it is the Malay votes who would determine our win,” said Ananthan.

He also urged the party leadership to get rid of factional politics to attract Indians back to the party.

“The party suffered heavily during the feud between former president S Samy Vellu and his deputy (S Subramaniam) in the past. Please do not create the same problem between incumbent president G Palanivel and (his deputy) Dr S Subramaniam,” said Ananthan.