The support of the Indian Malaysian community for the ruling
coalition is still a “question mark”, says MIC president G Palanivel, who
admitted that the party, as well as the BN, lost the bulk of the support from
the community in the 2008 general election.“We (Indian Malaysians) are only helped during by-elections,
with tit-bits, small allocations for schools, temples, small loans - (but) we
need things on an enormous scale, and only then will the community's support
come back, because we have no one else to depend on except the BN government,”
he said.
“MIC will always support Umno, MCA and all other parties in BN but whether the Indian community will support or not is a question mark because they must be looked after. “The community's support was okay (but) it is very difficult for me to give a guarantee at this moment that it is all back... because from time to time there is deterioration because of various issues,” said Palanivel .
With political pundits predicting that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will call the 13th general election close to the end of the year or early next year, Palanivel said urgent solutions were needed to tackle the problems of the community. “If they (the BN) reciprocate, then we will do well. We need help, this community is a small community... we are not a majority community, just a minority,” added the deputy plantation industries and commodities minister.
MIC had suffered a downturn after the 2008 general election, where party bigwigs including Palanivel and former president S Samy Vellu were defeated by lightweight opponents. It was then reported that the support of the Indians for the ruling coalition had plummeted from 82 percent to 47 percent and MIC, which had a track record of winning almost all the parliamentary and state seats contested, was annihilated. Palanivel indirectly hit out at Najib, alleging that 'sweeteners' handed out during by-elections did not solve the issue of deprivation.
“Affirmative policies are good, but sometimes these policies bypass the man on the street and they become desperate leading them to resort to violence. I will bravely say that deprivation leads to violence,” he said.
'We must be included in the main economic agenda'
“We are a positive community but we need the right type of support, we must be included in the main economic agenda - but (as time goes by the support has) deteriorated (as seen in the) civil service and universities intakes,” he added.However, asked on steps taken by MIC to get rid of these hurdles in the event the general election is called, Palanivel told reporters to wait for his keynote address at the party's annual general meeting (AGM).
MIC's 65th AGM is taking place at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) this weekend.“I'm treating my presidential address as an urgent address... if the BN government looks after every Malaysian well we have no problems. We must concentrate our national budget on developing our people,” he said.
“MIC will always support Umno, MCA and all other parties in BN but whether the Indian community will support or not is a question mark because they must be looked after. “The community's support was okay (but) it is very difficult for me to give a guarantee at this moment that it is all back... because from time to time there is deterioration because of various issues,” said Palanivel .
With political pundits predicting that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will call the 13th general election close to the end of the year or early next year, Palanivel said urgent solutions were needed to tackle the problems of the community. “If they (the BN) reciprocate, then we will do well. We need help, this community is a small community... we are not a majority community, just a minority,” added the deputy plantation industries and commodities minister.
MIC had suffered a downturn after the 2008 general election, where party bigwigs including Palanivel and former president S Samy Vellu were defeated by lightweight opponents. It was then reported that the support of the Indians for the ruling coalition had plummeted from 82 percent to 47 percent and MIC, which had a track record of winning almost all the parliamentary and state seats contested, was annihilated. Palanivel indirectly hit out at Najib, alleging that 'sweeteners' handed out during by-elections did not solve the issue of deprivation.
“Affirmative policies are good, but sometimes these policies bypass the man on the street and they become desperate leading them to resort to violence. I will bravely say that deprivation leads to violence,” he said.
'We must be included in the main economic agenda'
“We are a positive community but we need the right type of support, we must be included in the main economic agenda - but (as time goes by the support has) deteriorated (as seen in the) civil service and universities intakes,” he added.However, asked on steps taken by MIC to get rid of these hurdles in the event the general election is called, Palanivel told reporters to wait for his keynote address at the party's annual general meeting (AGM).
MIC's 65th AGM is taking place at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) this weekend.“I'm treating my presidential address as an urgent address... if the BN government looks after every Malaysian well we have no problems. We must concentrate our national budget on developing our people,” he said.
Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/171317
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