New MIC chief: Party will discuss sticking with BN

Newly elected MIC president SA Vigneswaran says that the party will discuss whether it will remain in BN in the near future.

But first, he said, the party must focus on the task of restructuring itself from the grassroots following its thrashing in the 14th general election two months ago.

"The decision to stay or leave BN is not in my hands.

“I will bring the issue up at the MIC central working committee meeting. We will discuss the matter there and come up with a unanimous decision," he said during a press conference at the MIC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Vigneswaran said this following nomination for the party polls, in which he was announced as the new party president after winning uncontested.

MIC is one of the three remaining members of BN, after 10 component parties left the coalition following the May 9 polls. The three parties – Umno, MCA and MIC – were also the first three parties to form the Alliance, and later BN in 1973 .

Umno remains the biggest coalition member with 51 parliamentary seats, compared to MIC with two and MCA with one.

‘Umno to stay’

Vigneswaran is confident that that Umno will still stay in BN despite the latter's insistence on using its own logo in next month’s Sg Kandis by-election.

The by-election for the Selangor state seat – which fell vacant after the death of incumbent Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei – marks the first time Umno is using its own logo since BN was formed.

"In my opinion, Umno is ready to use its own logo to gauge if Malay voters will accept Umno after its defeat in GE14. They (Umno) do not want to exit BN. So, what it there to criticise?" he said when asked on the matter today.

To a question on MIC's direction, Vigneswaran admitted that his party needed restructuring.

"The restructuring must begin at the grassroots. We want to adopt MCA's way, that is each member must confirm its membership through fingerprinting. This will make it easier for us to calculate MIC's real strength." he said.

Cleaning up MIC

Vigneswaran also warned MIC members heading Hindu caste-based organisations to refrain from holding posts within the party.

"This is to clean up the name of MIC which has been stained with caste (politics). I also want to introduce a new system whereby a member can only hold one party post.”

The party is also ready to take on critics, Vigneswaran said, who often make accusations against the party.

"We want to haul up these people, who always incite MIC so they can explain who it is we allegedly steal from, kill and so on.

“We have instructed our legal team to bring these people to face justice,” he insisted. - Mkini