Thursday, January 29, 2015

DPM enters MIC fray, PM-Dr M 'another story'

With infighting raging and MIC on the brink of being de-registered, the BN leadership has decided to step in.

The ruling coalition's number two Muhyiddin Yassin, however, balked at making a similar commitment with regard to the ongoing spat between Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"That's another story," Muhyiddin replied when asked.

As for MIC, Muhyiddin (left) said he has discussed the matter with Najib and a meeting would be held soon with the component party's senior leaders.

"With the current situation, we need to intervene. I think if left on its own, there doesn’t seem to be a solution," he said, calling for calm between the rival factions.

"So the BN leadership, the prime minister and myself will intervene for the good of the party and BN," Muhyiddin told a press conference today.

MIC 'not focused'

He said the BN leadership was taking the matter seriously as MIC was an important component party in the coalition, which required its support and confidence.

He said the MIC situation had spiralled out of control (picture, below right) and it was as if MIC president G Palanivel was no longer 'focused'. Muhyiddin quickly added that he did not mean to criticise anyone.

The DPM said the BN leadership also be looking into the Registrar of Societies’ recommendations for MIC to see what measures could be taken - including divisional meetings that needed to be held again - while also ensuring that measures taken would be in line with the party's constitution.

On another question, Muhyiddin said the recent outburst between DAP and PAS was a teaching moment for the rakyat.

'Pakatan tried to hide it'

He said that while he could not predict what would happen next, it showed that Pakatan Rakyat was no longer united and now disagreed over fundamental issues.

“They have been at odds for a long time now and tried to hide it, but it eventually unravelled. For me, that is their internal problem.

“But the lesson is that the people can now know what is Pakatan Rakyat and where it is heading because the members do not share the same views on fundamental issues to the extent that this crisis erupted. And, as we all know, it is quite severe,” Muhyiddin added.

Meanwhile, BN Youth chairperson Khairy Jamaluddin, in another statement, asked MIC to resolve the crisis as soon as possible so as not to taint the party’s or the coalition’s image.

“The MIC internal problem that got worse yesterday is feared to erode Indian support, which will further affect BN,” he said in a brief statement.

He however said that BN Youth does not intend to interfere in the matter, and asked the party to be “proactive” in solving its own issues.


Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/287689

No comments: