MMSP now BN affiliate, not eyeing seats

Although the newly established Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party (MMSP) has joined BN as an affiliate, it will not be seeking to contest in the general elections just yet, said president RS Thanenthiran. “We feel this is the first step as BN has opened up its doors to accept other component parties... In the past, the Indian community had only MIC but now there are other parties that can represent them,” he said.
BN had amended its constitution to introduce direct associate and affiliate memberships, a move aimed at bring “BN-friendly” groups into its fold.Asked whether being in the coalition without voting rights would suffice, Thanenthiran said the party is happy with its current level of participation. “Now we can participate in BN programmes and meetings compared to when we used to be outside the door despite supporting them. This makes us relevant,” he said.

He stressed that Prime Minister and BN chief Najib Abdul Razak indicated that BN candidate would be someone capable and would subjected thorough screening.Traditionally, component party leaders submit their list of candidates, who are subjected to approval of the BN chairperson. However, Thanenthiran is optimistic that this practice will change in due time and candidates will be chosen based on their effectiveness in serving the people. “He (Najib) has clear signalled that this is a beginning of new leadership and I think we can hope that capable people and those wanted by the community will lead in future,” said Thanenthiran.

Significant contributors to an electoral success

Prior to the BN convention, the coalition had dropped several controversial amendments such as the introduction of a majority-based decision making system to replace the current the “consensus system” which grants component parties veto powers on certain matters. Proposals for the removal of the “consensus system” was due to the dismal performance of several BN component parties such as MCA, Gerakan and MIC. Gerakan only manage to retain two Parliament seats, compared to the 10 seats it had before the election and lost control in Penang after governing the state for almost 39 years.

MIC, on the other hand, only won three out of nine Parliament seats and six out of 19 state seats contested.
Following this, BN began courting other “BN-friendly” groups such as the MMSP which is a formed by a splinter group from Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf). MMSP was launched on Oct 1 last year and was officiated by Najib. “Our party may only be one-year-old but with people's need in our minds, we are sure to be a significant contributor for people's success,” said Thanenthiran adding that Makkal Sakti now has 38,014 members.

Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/150200