MIC JOINS BN FIGHT AFTER NAZRI HUMILIATES SUBRA AS ‘HELICOPTER CANDIDATE’ WHO CAN ONLY WIN IN UMNO SAFE SEAT

KUALA LUMPUR – Public spats between Barisan Nasional leaders only benefit their rivals in the opposition, MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam told Umno’s Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

The health minister reminded the Umno supreme council member, who recently downplayed the influence of his party’s allies, that it was vital for BN leaders to consider the coalition’s overall interests and not only that of their own parties.

“Don’t do things that will weaken Barisan Nasional as a whole while we’re in the lead-up to elections,” he told reporters today after launching a gallery at MIC headquarters today to commemorate the party’s 70th anniversary.

“All BN leaders must look at the needs of each component and try to fulfil it. We must be leaders to all components, not just the party we are in.”

Nazri told Malay Mail Online in a recent interview that Umno was the dominant party in BN because other components had to rely on “parachuting” their leaders and candidates into safe areas rather than fielding locals to contest.

He cited Dr Subramaniam as an example, pointing out the latter was MP for Segamat despite being a Penang native.

This prompted MCA’s Datuk Ti Lian Ker, who was already openly critical of Umno, to challenge the tourism and culture minister to join DAP, accusing Nazri of favouring the opposition party more than his own allies in BN.

Ti has also accused Umno of hurting its allies through the use of scare tactics and communal politics, saying this hampered the ability of the non-Malay parties to secure the support of the communities they profess to represent.

Nazri today mocked Ti by saying that he has more respect for DAP as it at least has the support of voters, and called the MCA central committee member a “reject”.

Commenting on the continued spat, Dr Subramaniam said BN has faced similar issues before and will be able to resolve the current acrimony among the components.

“In politics we occasionally face these kinds of problems but we have to manage it. We have managed similar problems before and we have overcome it. I am sure we will over come this,” he said.

– Malay Mail