'Friends for 60 years, why should MIC leave BN after one GE loss?'

There is no reason for the MIC to depart the BN coalition after over six decades of camaraderie, just because of one general election loss, the party has said.

Instead, its central working committee member M Saravanan said this was the time for the coalition members to stand by each other and it was premature to talk about the Indian-based party leaving BN.

This, despite the coalition's disastrous outing at last month's polls which saw the coalition lose federal power for the first time since Malaysia's independence.

"We (MIC) do not want to be seen to be leaving (the coalition). We will stand with Umno and BN.

"We do not want to make the decision (to leave). It is too early, the new government has just taken over.

"After all, we were attached to each other for over 60 years, so why would we run away after just one election (loss)," he said to Malaysiakini.

The MIC leader was commenting on the call by the Umno veterans club for BN to disband as the spirit of the alliance among the component parties no longer existed.

He further dismissed veterans club secretary-general Mustapha Yaakub's declaration that MIC, along with MCA and Gerakan, were the weak links in the coalition and had been merely latching onto Umno's success all these years.

"That is not true. We had been doing our best, within our means. After over 60 years, why has the Umno veterans club only now realised we are weak?" he added.

The Tapah MP is only one of two MIC candidates to win parliament seats in last month's election.

Although BN took a beating in the 14th general elections, Umno still emerged as the party with the single most number of parliament seats won - 54- while MCA only got one and Gerakan lost all contested parliament seats.

Keep MIC intact

MIC's disastrous showing had intensified claims that the party was no longer relevant to the Indian community.

Its president Dr S Subramaniam (photo above) had immediately stated the party would conduct a post-mortem of the election results to study its weaknesses and re-look ways to stay relevant for the Indian community.

It also planned to embark on a nationwide tour to explain to its members its new role as opposition.

The results also led Subramaniam, a former cabinet minister who himself lost the Segambut parliamentary seat, to opt out of the party polls in October and contemplate returning to medical practice.

When asked about the future of MIC, Saravanan, however, stressed that were no immediate plans to shake up the party and its top leadership.

Instead, he said it would soldier on and planned to serve as a check and balance for the new government on matters affecting the Indian community.

He said: "Pakatan (Harapan) promised more than what we could do for the Indians. If they deliver (on their promises), we will support them.

"But if they don't deliver, then we will voice out (our displeasure). We shall not simply complain for the sake of it.

"We will focus less on politics and more on issues." - Mkini