KUALA LUMPUR- MIC will not allow other Barisan Nasional component party candidates or BN-friendly individuals to be fielded in any of the nine parliamentary and 19 state seats it contested in the last general election.
"If the BN decides to bring an outsider to contest (anywhere else) in the next general election, it is their choice, but the nine parliament and 19 state seats for MIC are not for outsiders," president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel told reporters yesterday.
He added that even then, only those candidates who hold positions in MIC and are popular with the people will be considered to contest the party's traditional seats.
Palanivel was responding to speculation that MIC will compromise on its traditional allocation of seats within the BN, if it is asked to give up some to leaders from Indian-based non-governmental organisations who are BN-friendly.
Speaking at a Deepavali open house in Petaling Jaya Selatan, he however declined to comment on a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who said last Wednesday that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is willing to meet and discuss the community's grouses with all Indian groups, including the banned Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).
"Public confidence in MIC is increasing. I am not going to interfere with the PM's meeting with Hindraf," Palanivel said.
"(But) the seat allocation (for MIC) is between Prime Minister and me," he added.
Of the nine parliamentary seats which it contested in 2008 -- Sungai Siput, Tapah, Cameron Highlands, Hulu Selangor, Subang, Kapar, Kota Raja, Teluk Kemang and Segamat, MIC clinched victory in only three constituencies -- Segamat, Cameron highlands and Tapah.
However it later won the Hulu Selangor seat in a by-election.
It won only seven out of the 19 state seats which it contested in, four in Johor, and one each in Malacca, Pahang and Negri Sembilan respectively.
On Saturday, Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorty said Hindraf will on Nov 25 unveil its five-year blueprint to bring the Indian poor into the mainstream of national development.
Hindraf legal advisor P. Uthayakumar, however, wants the government to respond to five demands by Jan 1 before it commits to any meeting.
-thesundaily
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