Mic S Indecision And Dilly Dallying Could Backfire On Its Future Electoral Prospects

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MIC’s indecision and dilly-dallying gives a negative impression of the party to the Indian community and generally to all Malaysians.
In the latest update, the party members have deferred the matter of exiting the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to its Central Working Committee (CWC) and the top leadership.
The last minute turnaround has surprised many who were expecting that the meeting will give the go-ahead to break away from BN. The reasons given for not doing so were flimsy and is a sure indication that the party has some last-minute reservations about leaving the coalition.
Some members had perhaps voiced about the negative consequences of this decision. In a recent opinion piece on Focus Malaysia former Penang deputy chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy reckoned that the moment the component party leaves BN, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) might soon come knocking on the leaders’ doors.
MIC was not known for transparency or accountability during its heydays and fears the Pandora’s Box being opened on various contentious issues of the past that still rankle the Indian community.
Additionally, the leaders had said that they want to leave BN but fully support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim! It is a kind of insurance! It is a conundrum few can understand!
Possibly, the MIC leadership has sensed some light at the end of the tunnel. Many are expecting a Cabinet reshuffle after the Sabah elections as many cabinet posts are vacant and the MIC hopes to win the favour of Anwar by getting a ministerial position.
MCA too will demand a ministerial position for staying and being loyal to BN. This will complicate matters. Possibly this is what MIC has been angling for all this while and is delaying its departure.
MIC is mainly after ministerial positions and less concerned about the Indian community. Even if it gets a ministerial position it will be only a temporary relief.
Considering that both DAP and PKR have a large membership of Indians the MIC cannot expect much from the prime minister. Supporting MIC will anger the Indians in these two parties.
In BN, MIC’s prospects will be even worse. It cannot win in the Malay or Chinese majority constituencies even if such are offered by BN. PH, meanwhile, will not offer any of its multi-racial seats especially when it can win.
It is no business of the PH to strengthen MIC. Possibly, the one seat that it has now will be lost in the 16th general election (GE16).
MIC is also in talks with UMNO deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, and all these show that the MIC is nothing but indecisive and opportunistic. It is not without reason that the Indians before and nowadays shun the party as one of exploiters and self-seekers.
MIC has lost a lot of support but will be able to regain some of it with a revival if it puts the community’s interests first, not the leaders’. The party needs to strengthen its base and explore the various options and hope to be better off after the next general election.
Time is catching up and there will be a general election in less than two years and the party has a lot of groundwork to do to get the support of the community. Staying with BN is suicidal even if it temporarily gets a ministerial post. The party has to weigh carefully its electoral options in GE16.
If it wants to join Perikatan Nasional (PN) it should get a pre-election binding agreement to ensure that the community’s needs and interests are not brushed aside once the coalition wins the elections and forms the government.
The party should avoid the Malay-centric PN if the latter is unwilling to agree to its MIC demands. It should then explore the possibility of initiating a Third Force consisting of smaller parties and prominent civil society personalities to stand in multi-racial constituencies in the west coast states.
This is a good option and MIC should have confidence and faith in it. It needs to stand on its own and not depend on the electoral generosity of other parties.
There is a lot of Indian dissatisfaction and disappointment with the unity government and MIC can capitalise and exploit the various issues. With a couple of parliamentary seats, MIC and the Third Force can some some demands for the Indian community in the formation of the next government.
The outcome of the next election has been predicted to be similar to GE15 when a small number of parliamentarians can made a big impact in the formation of the government. 
V. Thomas is a Focus Malaysia viewer.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT. 
- Focus Malaysia.

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