MIC veep rues no contest stand, says Umno leader's argument 'rubbish'

CAMERON POLLS | MIC vice-president T Mohan is disappointed that the top leadership has decided against contesting in the Cameron Highlands by-election on Jan 26.

However, the senator said he accepted the decision of the central working committee (CWC) which agreed with president SA Vigneswaran to pull out from the race because the chances of winning are slim.

“We know the MIC culture. Party leaders rarely disagree with the president's decision.

“My request for a secret ballot was rejected. If it was done through secret balloting, perhaps more CWC members would have opposed the decision not to contest,” he told Malaysiakini.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that only six of the 56 CWC members objected.

Mohan said winning or losing in an election is part and parcel of politics, but what is important is to work towards capturing the hearts and minds of voters whenever there is an opportunity to do so.

“If we consider Cameron Highlands to be unsafe, then even Tapah is not safe. MIC will not have a safe seat in future if it continues to rely on calculating its chances of winning,” he added.

MIC deputy president M Saravanan is the MP for Tapah, which is the party's sole parliamentary seat at present.

Meanwhile, Mohan also censured Umno supreme council member Noh Omar (photo), who argued that an Umno candidate would fare better in Cameron Highlands.

“This is a rubbish argument, which is unrealistic.

“We know how his strategy worked in Selangor to the point that BN suffered a crushing defeat in the last general election. Don't be greedy (for seats),” he added.

He said Noh's claim, that Umno could capitalise on the large number of Malay voters, made no sense.

“MIC has contested and won Cameron Highlands since 2004. So how could it suddenly lose Malay votes? Noh's statement gives the impression that Malay voters in Cameron Highlands are racist and would only vote for a Malay candidate.

“I believe it is time for BN to distance itself from racial politics,” he added.

In the last general election, MIC vice-president C Sivarraajh won the Cameron Highlandsseat in a five-way tussle, edging DAP's M Manogaran with a margin of about 600 votes.

Last November, the Election Court nullified the results due to the commission of corrupt practices and ruled that a by-election be held.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that among those speculated to be the potential BN candidate for the upcoming by-election are Umno's acting president Mohamad Hasan, Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and Orang Asli leader Ramli Mohd Noor, who is a former senior police officer. -Mkini