KUALA LUMPUR: MIC will focus on getting the party on track rather than whether it should leave Barisan Nasional or not, its party president Tan Sri S.A Vigneswaran (pic) says.
"There might be some problems to be resolved [within Barisan]. But we have been working for more than 50 over years...The first and foremost thing we want to do is to ensure all our parties are put back on track," he said during a press conference on the results announcement of the MIC elections on Sunday (Oct 21).
“To exit or not, each individual party can decide for themselves. As for MIC, we will stick with BN until a decision is made together with all the component parties,” he said.
Vigneswaran was responding to a question whether MIC will consider leaving the coalition amid recent calls from MCA former leaders for the Barisan component party to quit the coalition.
Barisan shrank from 13 parties to five after GE14 with Umno, MCA, MIC, myPPP and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah.
“We have been in this ship for very long time. Pakatan [Harapan] is for convenience. I don’t see them as a body. But we [Barisan] have been tested 50 years. If we can correct the issues, the public will accept us,” he said, adding that there are many issues within the Pakatan.
“And hopefully after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad [retires], we will come back to the Government,” he added.
At the press conference, the results of the MIC was also announced with Datuk Seri M Saravanan winning the deputy president post.
The three new vice-presidents are Datuk T. Mohan, Datuk Sivaraajh Chandran and Datuk T. Murugiah.
MIC delegates started voting at 4pm on Saturday (Oct 20) to elect the party’s deputy president, three vice-presidents and 21 members of Central Working Committee (CWC) for the 2018-2021 term.
The election witnessed a straight fight between Tapah MP Saravanan and former Perak MIC chairperson Tan Sri M. Ramasamy, vying for MIC deputy president post.
The three vice-president posts saw fierce competition among 10 candidates.
In June, Vigneswaran was named the new MIC president after winning the post unopposed to replace Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam who decided to retire.
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