By B Nantha Kumar - Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: Several Indian leaders in the Pakatan Rakyat are proposing to set up a body within the system to address pressing issues in the community.
PKR's Kapar MP S Manikavasagam said the body will incorporate representatives from the grassroots as well as parliamentarians, assemblymen and local councillors.
“We admit there have been shortcomings on the part of Pakatan in dealing with Indian issues. We realised this in Hulu Selangor,” he told FMT.
He said the body will not be just another thinktank but will instead “focus on understanding their problem and implementing ground-level solutions”.
“We have gone back to the drawing board and are currently drafting out several strategies to win back the Indian community’s support. The main aim is to focus on solutions to the Indian problems at the grassroots,” he said.
In relation to this, Manikavasagam, who is also a PKR supreme council member, will be meeting PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim today.
PKR had failed to secure a full Indian support during the recent Hulu Selangor by-election which saw its candidate Zaid Ibrahim being defeated by BN's P Kamalanathan.
“We’ll have to work hard to win back the Indian community’s support. Of course we’ve make a lot of mistakes. But it doesn't mean we have lost in the battle.
“Hulu Selangor was not a lesson to learn from, it was a wake up call. We lost about seven percent of the community’s support. In 2008 we managed to get about 47 percents of the Indian votes, but this fell down to 41 percent in this by-election,” said Manikavasagam.
He said in the last general election, people supported the Pakatan because “they felt we could make the change”.
“If we don’t help them, they will neglect us. That’s what happened in Hulu Selangor,” he said.
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