KUALA LUMPUR Feb 18 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has successfully brokered a deal between the warring factions of the Indian Progressive Front in a move which could help Barisan Nasional regain some Indian votes ahead of crucial by-elections in April.
Following a meeting between IPF leaders and Abdullah, the warring factions have agreed to call a ceasefire to internal bickering as the BN president dangled the carrot of a long sought after entry into the ruling coalition's fold.
IPF had for years benefited from the backing of Tamil working-class voters, much to the chagrin of MIC, which is supposed to represent the Indian voice in BN.
But infighting caused the IPF to lose its effectiveness as a BN-friendly party, with the Hindraf and Makkal Sakthi movement successfully championing the cause of the Indian underclass to revolt against BN parties at the ballot box.
Under the Abdullah brokered deal, free and fair party elections will be held either in June or July to allow "all IPF members" to elect a new leadership team.
All three faction leaders have agreed to the deal and have vowed to set aside their problems with each other to let the formula work.
An IPF leadership meeting has been called for tomorrow to endorse the deal and make preparations for the election.
All members, including the thousands who had been sacked or suspended over the years, are eligible to rejoin and contest for any post.
Abdullah also told the IPF leaders that he would appoint BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Mansor to "supervise and oversee" the successful implementation of the formula.
At the meeting, Abdullah also told the factions that BN membership would be considered for IPF if the party can unite.
The meeting was attended by Puan Sri P. Jayashree, the widow of IPF founder, the late Tan Sri M. G. Pandithan, who claims now to be the legitimate president, K. Panjamurthi, chief of the breakaway IPF Bersatu faction, and suspended deputy president V. Senggutuan.
Vice-president M. Mathyalagan, who leads a fourth faction, was not present and IPF sources said he will have to join forces with one of the three factions and "come in" with them.
The meeting was also attended by senior aides of all faction leaders but they were not allowed to speak.
"We had a free-flowing discussion and Abdullah listened patiently and after everybody spoke the PM urged us to unite and be part of the BN political process," said an IPF member who attended the meeting.
"We are all very happy with the outcome and have all promised to set aside our differences and work together," the leader said.
"The June/July election will decide who leads the IPF. This outcome is really great. We all thanked the PM for it," the leader said.
IPF was founded in 1989 after MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu sacked Pandithan for alleged indiscipline.
It supported Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's Gagasan Rakyat coalition in the 1990 general election when the opposition came within a whisker of unseating the Barisan Nasional.
After that the Gagasan broke up with Tengku Razaleigh and others returning to Umno, but Pandithan, while supporting BN, never gained admission for IPF because of opposition by Samy Vellu who had relied on the ruling coalition's principle that all component parties must unanimously agree to admit a new member.
Pandithan died in August 2008 after a long battle with cancer.
On his death Jayashree, helped by a lawyer, tried to "seize" control of the party and had herself appointed as acting president and later engineered to be "elected" president.
Her opponents went to court but the judged ruled he could not interfere in party matters because the Societies Act 1967 forbids it.
However last week the Registrar of Societies Datuk Alias Kalil intervened and declared the "election" of Jayashree as president void, setting the stage for Abdullah to intervene and call all factions to his office to broker a deal.
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