MIC yet to decide on Bersatu ties, says difficult to contest GE as opposition

 

MIC has yet to decide whether to follow Umno's lead in severing ties with Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional in facing the 15th general election (GE15).

MIC deputy president M Saravanan said if a decision was made to follow Umno, the party must be prepared to face an unprecedented challenge in going to the polls as an opposition party.

"If we leave, that means we will be part of the opposition.

"That means there's a great possibility that we will not have access to campaigning in community halls," Saravanan told reporters today on the sidelines of the MIC Putera, Puteri, Youth and Women's Wings annual general meetings in Klang.

"MIC as a party, our members do not have the experience of facing a general election as the opposition.

"So we cannot just make a decision, we must look into it carefully," he said.

Saravanan further pointed out that BN's previous general election loss had led to departures of not only grassroots members but also its MPs.

"If even our MPs can run away from the party, what more grassroots members.

"When election time comes, there's no access to halls, government agencies or allocations so what guarantee will there be that our members will not run away?" he said.

"Don't just talk about members, we have the experience of MPs who represented the party for many years but they ran away after we (BN) lost.

"Even those who previously held minister positions could run away," he said.

Earlier, in his speech to delegates from the four wings -  many who joined in via the Zoom online platform - Saravanan said MIC should consider the common rakyat's aspirations in determining its GE15 candidates as their views may differ greatly from those of party members.

The meetings' opening ceremony today was also attended by BN component party leaders including Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, Wanita Umno secretary Rosni Sohar, MCA Wanita chief Heng Siai Kee and MCA Youth chief Nicole Wong.  - Mkini