Ex Mic Man Punithan In Bid To Unite Indian Parties

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Former Selangor MIC Youth leader P Punithan wants to create a strong platform to negotiate with Putrajaya and all state governments on issues affecting the Indian community. (Facebook pic)PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) president P Punithan is seeking to unite all Indian parties in the country, including those backing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“The call for unity among Indian leaders is timely because there are no Indian ministers in the Cabinet and there are many issues affecting the community,” Punithan, the former Selangor MIC Youth leader, told FMT.
He plans to host a discussion involving Indian parties in the country to unite them under a single platform.
This would give the community strong standing to negotiate with Putrajaya and all state governments on issues affecting Indians, he said.
Punithan said the issues to be discussed would include matters related to education, Tamil schools, and economic empowerment.
He said he would issue invitations to 14 Indian parties. At least five, which he did not name, had agreed to attend the discussion, he added.
According to the websites of the Election Commission and Registrar of Societies, registered Indian parties include MIC, Kongres Indian Muslim Malaysia, Parti Barisan India Se-Malaysia, Parti Makkal Sakti Malaysia, Parti Keadilan India Malaysia, Malaysian Indian United Party, Kongres Keadilan India Malaysia, Parti Rakyat India Malaysia, and Parti India Muslim Bersatu Malaysia.
More recently, former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy launched the United for the Rights of Malaysians Party, or Urimai.
Several multiracial parties also have large numbers of Indian members in their ranks, including former Barisan Nasional component MyPPP and the Malaysian Advancement Party led by former Hindraf co-founder P Waytha Moorthy.
When contacted, Ramasamy said he had spoken to Punithan about the meeting several weeks ago.
“There is nothing wrong in calling representatives of Indian political parties to discuss issues affecting the community,” he told FMT, adding that he would attend the meeting. - FMT

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