IPOH: Sungkai assemblyman A Sivanesan is disappointed that the Barisan Nasional Perak state government had only appointed 35 Indians among the 368 new councillors.The DAP leader said Pakatan Rakyat, prior to being toppled, had appointed 45 Indian councillors in 2008 and 57 in 2009.Last February, the Pakatan government collapsed after several of its state reps quit their respective parties and declared themselves BN-friendly independents.
Sivanesan said since Indians make up 13% of the state's electorate, MIC should have been allocated 45 councillor positions.“If MIC, which has been in BN for 53 years, cannot fight for itself, how is it going to fight for the Indian community?” he was quoted as saying by a Tamil daily.Meanwhile, PPP and several local NGOs were said to be upset for having been left out .The daily also reported that Perak PPP had ordered its councillors not to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
MIC chief: What did Pakatan do?
Contacted later, Perak MIC chief S Veerasingam dismissed Sivanesan's complaint."We have to share with five parties. The same number of seats was given to MIC in the past. When the number increases, we will get more seats,” he told FMT.Taking a swipe at Pakatan, Veerasingam asked what the opposition coalition had done for the Indians in Perak during its 11-month rule."What did Pakatan do? They promised two exeutive councillor posts, they gave 2,500 acres of land for Chinese schools but didn't think of the Indians,” he said.
He pointed out that under BN Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir, the state government allocated 2,000 acres of land for Tamil schools while temple and squatter issues were also being resolved.
Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/pakatan-rakyat/8504-only-35-indian-councillors-in-perak-dap-rep-cries-foul
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