PUTRAJAYA, May 8 — The Indian community support for Barisan Nasional (BN) has risen to about 60 percent in the just concluded 13th general election (GE13), said MIC deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam today.
He said this has contributed to BN’s victory in forming the government at federal and many state levels. “The Indian community’s support for BN is better now compared to the last general election,” he told a press conference, here.
He said the situation had changed after the BN government helped the community by implementing various initiatives in raising their standard of living.
The MIC suffered a setback in the previous general election when the Indian community was swayed by the Hindraf factor, a non-governmental organisation fighting for the Indian community’s well-being.
Dr Subramaniam believed that the loss of the Chinese support for BN in the recent general election was not due to racial lines but probably because the Chinese community had rejected their representatives in BN.
“Maybe the Chinese community’s perception is that their leaders in BN did not represent their aspiration,” he said. Therefore, Dr Subramaniam said BN should move forward and try to solve the problem and pay due attention on the needs of the Chinese community,” he said.
Dr Subramanian also encouraged MCA to participate in the new cabinet because it was not good for the country’s interest if they declined.
–BERNAMA
