Ball in MIC’s court now as Muhyiddin confirms PN green light for application

Former PN chairman hopes for a 'positive' decision by the MIC president and leadership.

MIC president SA Vigneswaran (right) and deputy president M Saravanan, whom Muhyiddin Yassin said he has been in regular contact with over MIC’s bid to join PN, at the party’s annual general assembly last year.

PETALING JAYA:

 Perikatan Nasional (PN) has given the green light for MIC’s application to join the coalition, with the final decision now resting with the party’s leadership, former PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin confirmed.

Muhyiddin said PN had agreed to accept MIC as early as last year and was now waiting for the party to make its move.

“It’s not a secret in the sense that they have applied. We have considered it. And in fact, it was last year that we made the decision to accept MIC,” he said in an interview with selected members of the press last night.

The former prime minister, who stepped down as PN chairman effective Jan 1, said MIC president SA Vigneswaran was given a mandate by the party to determine its political direction and the timing of the decision.

“I was always in communication with Vigneswaran and M Saravanan (deputy president) as they came to discuss,” he said, adding that PN had clearly conveyed its expectations and hoped that the party would decide in its favour.

Muhyiddin also said that MIC’s entry would reshape Indian political representation within or around PN, giving voters more options.

“Interestingly, if MIC joins us, it would be like the whole of Indian political parties would be in or associated with PN,” he said, adding that Indian voters had the right to choose their political alignment.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that PN had approved MIC’s application during a PN Supreme Council meeting on Dec 9 last year, citing Bersatu and PN sources.

The report said Muhyiddin had briefed the council on a letter from MIC and his discussions with its leaders, and that MIC’s entry was viewed as a way to strengthen PN’s election machinery and attract non-Malay support, particularly among Indian voters in urban constituencies.

However, the move reportedly faced objections from the Malaysian Indian People’s Party, a PN component which urged the coalition to defer MIC’s entry as the party remained part of Barisan Nasional (BN).

Talk of MIC leaving BN had circulated for some time, especially after the party’s 79th annual general assembly last November where delegates approved a motion empowering the leadership to consider such a move amid dissatisfaction over the party’s role and relevance.

Several Umno leaders, however, have repeatedly dismissed the speculation. BN secretary-general Zambry Abd Kadir said last night that the coalition had received no official notification from MIC and insisted it remained part of BN. - FMT