MIC president says no boycott, party accepts candidates chosen by BN with ‘open heart’

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran denied today that the party’s absence from Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidate announcement event yesterday signalled a boycott.

He said instead that MIC had decided to abide by its “tradition” of holding “a general meeting” first before making any official announcements.

He further added that MIC endorses all seats given to them for the upcoming 15th general election (GE15) despite rumours saying the party was unhappy with certain seats allocated to non-component Indian parties, also known as “Friends of BN”.

“After BN made the announcement on our seat allocations, MIC decided that the management is fair, and we would like to praise the leadership of BN for the seats given to us.

“Secondly, we accept with an open heart the candidates they have chosen to contest in the election,” said Vigneswaran after their emergency meeting ended today.

The so-called “Friends of BN” include parties such as Makkal Sakti, Indian Progressive Front (IPF), and the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimmia).

“Regarding the decision made by BN, we MIC unanimously agreed with the seats given to the ‘Friends of BN’,” he said, adding that this was done in the “family spirit” of their coalition.

He urged MIC divisions to give it their all to win in their respective areas.

“Yesterday was not a boycott but it’s our tradition to have a general meeting to show the party’s leadership before making a unanimous decision,” said Vigneswaran today.

He then went on to say that MIC supported BN’s decision to field Umno’s Khairy Jamaluddin in the traditionally MIC-held seat of Sungai Buloh because he has a higher chance of winning.

“We did a swap because we look at the chances of BN candidates winning the seat. It’s like a family,” he added.

Khairy, the incumbent Rembau MP and caretaker health minister, had agreed to make way for his party’s deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, also known as Tok Mat, in his first federal seat contest.

When asked if they have given the number of seats that they had asked for, Vigneswaran said that MIC traditionally have contested nine seats in a general election, but were given 10 this time.

He added that the focus should be on the chances of winning instead of the number of allocated seats.

Yesterday, BN named 10 MIC candidates who will stand for GE15: Sungai Siput (Vigneswaran), Tapah (M Saravanan), Hulu Selangor (T. Mohan), Teluk Intan (T. Murugiah), Padang Serai (C. Sivarraajh), Batu (A. Kohilan Pillay), Port Dickson (M. Kamalanathan), Kuala Langat (M. Mohana), Kota Raja (D. Kajendran) and Segamat (MP Ramasamy).