Report: MIC still in ‘critical’ condition

According to a report by the Prime Minister's Office, only three out of the nine Parliament seats the party is eyeing for are considered safe bets.

KUALA LUMPUR: A report from the Prime Minister’s Office reveals that MIC is still in a precarious position.

The party, which now has a new president after 30 years in G Palanivel, will probably be facing its toughest election battle yet. It must regain the ground it lost in the last polls.

In the 2008 general election, MIC only won three parliament and seven state seats out of the nine and 19 contested.

Last year, MIC’s P Kamalanathan added another MP seat to the stable when he defeated PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim in the Hulu Selangor by-election.

According to the report from the PM’s Office, only three out of the nine Parliament seats could be considered safe for MIC. The three were Cameron Highlands (Pahang), Hulu Selangor (Selangor) and Tapah (Perak).

Party vice-president and Deputy Minister in the PM’s Department SK Devamany is the incumbent Cameron Highlands MP whereas another vice-president and Federal Territory and Urban Well-Being Deputy Minister M Saravan holds the Tapah seat.

Speaking to FMT, a senior officer from the PM’s Department, who declined to be named, said that MIC would face an uphill task in the next election.

“Palanivel is expected to maintain all of the winners in the last election in their respective seats despite earlier rumours of Devamany being dropped to make way for the president and Saravanan to compete in Kapar,” he said.

As for the other seats, the officer classified Segamat (Johor), Teluk Kemang (Negrei Sembilan) and Sungai Siput (Perak) as “semi-critical”. The other three seats Subang, Kapar and Kota Raja were expected to be retained by the opposition.

Segamat is a crucial seat as it housed MIC deputy president and Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam.

The trouble with this constituency, according to the officer, was the 51% Chinese voters. The latter are predominantly pro-opposition.

Picking the right candidates

The officer stated that for MIC to remain relevant it must field candidates who were accepted by the people and those who would work for the interest of all races.

“No matter if the candidates are old, new or middle-aged as long as they can win,” he added.

Meanwhile, a party insider claimed that the party had already prepared a list of names for the general-election.

However, he stressed that the candidates must be familiar with the initiavies and programmes carried out by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s administration.

He conceded that some of the candidates and party leaders were in the dark about these issues and this would jeopardise the party’s chances.

“For example, the candidates needs to know the government’s initiatives on subsidies, loans, grant programmes, affordable housing (PPRT), food, health care and so on,” he said.

He also urged Palanivel to respect the wishes of the grassroots with regard to selecting candidates.