Letter to editor
FORMER Puchong MIC Division chairman Awtar Singh who is also a strong critic of the Madani government has recently chided Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for his failure to recognise and appreciate the contributions/sacrifices of MCA and MIC.
In his TikTok video, Awtar further slammed the UMNO president for not having invited both long-time BN component parties to discuss seat allocations prior to the 15th General Election (GE15) but instead staged the BN meeting in a clandestine manner as if “BN is a Sdn Bhd coalition owned by him”.
Such mannerism had eventually led to disgruntled MCA and MIC leaders colluded with Perikatan Nasional (PN) by having submitted statutory declarations (SDs) which were later retracted.
As claimed by so-called ‘rebel’ UMNO members who had either been sacked to suspended by the party, Zahid who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) had on numerous occasions made decision that did not represent the stance of the party’s leadership and/or its grassroots members.
In so doing, one could agree to a certain extent with Awtar that MCA and MIC have been thoroughly and insensitively insulted and humiliated by the UMNO head honcho.
Bleak future
Both MCA and MIC are finding it tough to justify their existence as component parties of BN which is today the core coalition partner alongside Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the unity government.
In Zahid’s quest to foster cordial ties with PH, UMNO seems to gain all the limelight in the wheeling and dealing with both MCA and MIC sitting on the sidelines most of the time. After all, UMNO boasts 26 MPs as well as four BN MPs which give the BN coalition a total of 30 representatives in the Dewan Rakyat.
It seems that MIC does not longer have a voice in government. With only one Sikh minister in the Cabinet, one wonders who is actually the voice of the Malaysian Indian community today?
Unlike UMNO which is well-represented in today’s Madani government with seven ministers and five deputy ministers – including Zahid himself as the DPM and Rural and Regional Development Minister – both MIC and MCA have no representation in the Cabinet.
This may go down in history as marking the first time that both MCA and MIC are not represented in the Malaysian Cabinet.
The unity government should duly acknowledge MIC’s contributions towards nation-building. MIC is not merely a representative of the Indian community but is an important component of the Malaysian political landscape.
Speaking in front of thousands of MIC members and party leaders at the MIC headquarters last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had pledged to look into MIC’s request for greater representation in the government.
But as it is today, there does not seem to be any follow up by PMX to MIC’s humble request which makes MIC’s (or even MCA for that matter) future in the BN coalition a bleak one. – Nov 26, 2024
Aravind
Klang
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
