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Sunday 17 May 2009

IPF to apply to join Barisan

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — The Indian Progressive Front (IPF) will apply to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for the party to join Barisan Nasional (BN), said its president Puan Sri Jayashree Pandithan.

"We have remained loyal and faithful to the BN for the last 20 years and now it is already 21 years and we are still unable to enter the coalition as a component party.

"I therefore appeal to Prime Minister to consider wisely our application and bring about a change in the fate of thousands of poor and downtrodden Indians by giving IPF the recognition it wanted over the last 20 years," she told a press conference today.

IPF would always support BN and was committed to restoring the Indian community's support for the coalition, she said.

Jayashree said she would seek to meet Najib, who is also BN chairman, for the latter to consider the party's application.

On another note, she said irresponsible parties who were trying to deceive and confuse the grassroots with the intention of tarnishing the party's image would face the consequences.

"Now that it is all clear that my leadership which got its new mandate at the party's AGM on Dec 14, 2008 is the legal and legitimate leadership, I would like to urge all party members to forego their differences and unite under one single banner, which is the IPF formed by the late Tan Sri M.G. Pandithan," she said.

Meanwhile, IPF's legal adviser S. Selvam, who also present at the press conference, condemned the action of former IPF deputy president V. Senggutuan for allegedly abusing the Registrar of Societies (ROS) letter to the party, dated Jan 30, 2009, which declared that the appointment of Jayashree was not in accordance with the Societies Act 1966.

"Jayashree had appointed Youth leader R. Suraienthiran to file for a judicial review to review the ROS letter dated Jan 30, which we did at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Feb 13.

"ROS then wrote to the Attorney-General's office on April 17 to explain that the letter of Jan 30 was an ordinary letter in the form of an advice and not a decision or order from the Registrar under the Societies Act 1966," he said.

Selvam said the Attorney-General's office wrote a letter to his firm dated May 11 advising IPF to withdraw the judicial review pursuant to the letter by the ROS dated April 17.

"We will do as advised. The response from ROS and the advice given by the Attorney-General's office confirms the president of IPF is none other than Jayashree, that the party's general assembly on Dec 14, 2008 is valid and the removal or suspension of Senggutuan is valid and the issue is now resolve," he said.

On Feb 14, Senggutuan had called a press conference where he claimed that the IPF had plunged into a crisis after the ROS declared as void the election of Jayashree as party president on Dec 14, 2008.

Among others, Registrar Datuk Md Alias Kalil, in a letter to the party dated Jan 30, 2009, declared that the appointment of Jayashree was not in accordance with the Societies Act 1966.

The ROS in a letter also declared void the suspension of Senggutuan and vice-president M. Mathyalagan and issued a show cause notice to 12 IPF supreme council members concerning the Dec 14 AGM. — Bernama

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