KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 – The worsening crisis in the MIC has prompted an Indian-based non-governmental organisation to call on the 68-year-old party to “straighten up the mess” quickly and get back to focusing on the grassroots.
If it failed to do so, it may find itself becoming irrelevant to the Indian community, warned Malaysian Indian Welfare Association president A. Prakash.
He said although the MIC had lost the support of the Indians during the 2008 general election, it managed to regain some lost ground in 2013.
HOPEFUL
“Although many people were not satisfied with the MIC’s contributions towards the Indian community, they realised that the MIC was the one and only party which could voice out the plight of the Indians to the government.
“And, now with the party’s crisis worsening, it faces the risk of being deregistered… we won’t have anything if that happens,” said Prakash, adding that he was worried about the future of the Indians in Malaysia.
The MIC crisis erupted following differences in opinion between the party’s top two leaders after the Registrar of Societies (RoS) issued a notice on Dec 5 directing the party to hold fresh elections for the three vice-presidential and 23 Central Working Committee (CWC) posts. The RoS had nullified the elections held in November 2013 following complaints of irregularities.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi then announced that the 2009-2013 CWC would take over the party affairs until the new elections were conducted.
On Monday, during a meeting attended by Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and MIC deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, it was decided that a BN secretariat would be formed to help the MIC resolve its crisis.
Party President Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, who did not attend Monday’s meeting, however disagreed with the proposal to set up a BN secretariat to look into the party’s problems, saying that he found it “very disturbing” and that he was not willing to let “third parties (BN) to run our beloved party”.
DAUNTING TASK
Prakash said the Indian community was beset with various issues in terms of business, education and employment and, as such, it required the assistance of the MIC to help resolve their problems.
“But if the party leaders keep themselves busy fighting for posts and power, then what will happen to the Indians,” he asked.
He added that once the party had resolved its crisis, it would face the daunting task of regaining the support and confidence of the Indians and doing well in the next general election.
Social activist Dr R. Nambiar said it was the Indian community who was being victimised as a result of the party crisis that had been dragging for over two months now.
“People will totally lose hope in the MIC… this will pave the way for other Indian-based parties to mushroom, causing the community to become even more divided,” he said.
Commenting on the MIC crisis, he said initially he thought it only involved two camps (one aligned to the president and the other, his deputy) but “now I realise that the divisions and branches have problems too”.
Nambiar, who is President of Pakar Malayalee of Malaysia, believed that the MIC should adhere to the instructions given by the RoS in order to save the party and then work on rebuilding the party and salvaging its pride.
“Only RoS can help them (MIC), as the ultimate goal is to save the party from being deregistered. Only then can we see the light at the end of the tunnel, otherwise they will keep driving in the dark tunnel,” he added.
– BERNAMA
