'Pakatan may lose 25 MPs without Hindraf's support'

(Malaysiakini) Pakatan Rakyat may risk losing 25 parliamentary seats in the next general election if it does not receive support from Hindraf, the movement's chief P Waythamoorthy says.

This comes in light of the Indian community warming up to the BN under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's administration.

However, Hindraf can help swing them back in favour of Pakatan if the opposition coalition forms an electoral pact with the movement, Waythamoorthy (left) said in a statement today.

"The Indian community is not at war with the government as we were in 2007-2008.

"Najib's administration has done tremendous work on the ground and if they are successful in gaining 55 percent of the total Indian voters, Pakatan is likely to face risks in 25 Parliament seats," he said.
Furthermore, Waythamoorthy said, Kedah would be "sure to fall" and Selangor would be at great risk of being recaptured by the BN.

"We at Hindraf believe we can prevent this. Our almost 2,000 cadres are prepared to go on the ground - they are unpaid volunteers. They will do the magic."
He said a partnership between Hindraf and Pakatan could ensure that at least half of the undecided Indian votes would go to the opposition coalition.

‘Hindraf bluprint the main priority’

It was reported on Feb 14 that Pakatan's discussions with Hindraf for cooperation had come to a stalemate after Hindraf had demanded to contest in seven parliamentary and 10 state seats.

Waythamoorthy later clarified that Hindraf had proposed to contest in all the MIC-held seats and had no desire for any seat held by an incumbent from Pakatan.

He had said that the main priority for Hindraf was still for Pakatan to endorse its blueprint to help the Indian poor.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has been coy about endorsing the blueprint and has instead stated that the principles of the blueprint were already embodied in Pakatan's Buku Jingga manifesto.

However, Waythamoorthy maintained that Hindraf's blueprint was more specific and the Indian community would not accept the vague promises that have been the norm in previous general elections.

"Hindraf has been questioned by the Indian community at all our road shows on the reason for Pakatan’s reluctance to endorse our blueprint.

"We have no concrete answer that is to their dissatisfaction to give them," he said.

Waythamoorthy urged the Pakatan leaders to gauge the sentiments on the ground instead of relying on hardcore party supporters to feed them with information.