Wake up fellas!
By Hakim Joe
Come next election, will the seats that have been MIC contested (before) be allocated to them then? What is the difference between voting for MIC (which is pro-BN) and MMS (which is also pro-BN)? Will MIC just lie down and say nothing when their already diminishing share of the allocated seats is now given to some other rival Indian political party? Or will they be a good little BN partner and stay quiet?
How many elected Indian politicians are there in Malaysia these days? Not many. With an almost 9% population, there should at least be a comparative 8% to 9% of them.
Let us look at the Parliamentary seats first. Of the 222 contested seats, 22 Indian politicians were involved in only 18 contested seats. That is 8.1% and about right. Of these 18 contested seats, only 12 Indian politicians were elected and of these 12 winners, 3 were from BN with the remainder 9 being from Pakatan.
12 Indian Parliamentarians equates a 5.4% representation in Parliament.
Let us now look at the State seats. Of the 505 contested seats, 50 Indian politicians were involved in only 37 contested seats. That is only 7.3%. Of these 37 contested seats, only 20 Indian politicians were elected and of these 20 winners, 5 were from BN, 14 from Pakatan and 1 independent somehow got himself elected.
20 Indian State Assemblymen equates a 4% representation.
If you Indian people think this is bad, look at the following figures. Of the 22 Indian politicians involved in Parliamentary elections nationwide, there was 1 independent candidate, 10 BN candidates and 11 Pakatan candidates. Of the 50 Indian politicians involved in the respective State elections, there were 5 independent candidates, 17 BN candidates and 28 Pakatan candidates.
Ask yourself 1 simple question, which party nominated more Indians to stand as their representative and which party has more Indians as elected representatives? The answer is Pakatan Rakyat.
Trivia question: What has Kedah, Kelantan, Penang, Perak, Perlis, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu got in common? The answer is that these states do not have a single government Indian representative in their respective State Assemblies. That is 9 out of the 13 states.
How bad was this rejection? Incumbent Samy Vellu, President of MIC lost by a majority of 1,821 votes to Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj of PKR in Sungai Siput. M. Kavyveas, President of PPP lost by a majority of 11,298 votes to Nga Kor Ming of DAP in Taiping. Sothinathan Sinna Gounder, MIC exco member lost by a majority of 2,804 votes to Kamarul Bahrin Abbas of PKR in Teluk Kemang. Palanivel Govindasamy, Deputy President of MIC lost by a majority of 198 votes to Zainal Abidin Ahmad of PKR in Hulu Selangor. Murugesan Sinnandavar, MIC exco member lost by a majority of 6,709 votes to Sivarasa Rasiah of PKR in Subang. Komala Devi Perumal and S. Vigneswaran Sanasee also lost in their respective bids to be elected.
Of the three elected parliamentarians from MIC, Subramaniam Sathasivam became the Minister of Human Resources, Devamany Krishnasamy became the Deputy Minister in the PM’s Department and M. Saravanan became the FT Deputy Minister. Two other sneaked in through the back door without being elected – A. Kohilan Pillay Appu (Gerakan) and Murugiah Thopasamy (ex-PPP). Kavyveas (PPP President) was left out.
Malaysia currently has 5 exclusively Indian political parties (now that Makkal Sakti has been registered) and 4 multiracial political parties (DAP, PKR, PPP and PGRM). Of these 4 (MIC, IPF, MIUP and DIMP) parties during the 2008 Elections, only MIC managed to get a few of their candidates elected and can lay claim to being the Voice of the Indians. Now we have one more to add to the fray, one that is pro-BN and BN-component-party-wannabe.
Let us assume that Umno allows them into the BN’s fold. Come next election, will the seats that have been MIC contested (before) be allocated to them then? What is the difference between voting for MIC (which is pro-BN) and MMS (which is also pro-BN)? Will MIC just lie down and say nothing when their already diminishing share of the allocated seats is now given to some other rival Indian political party? Or will they be a good little BN partner and stay quiet?
For those of us non-Indians, the MMS party is promoting themselves as an alternative to MIC. I am wondering aloud now just what they are capable of achieving that MIC had failed to do so in the past. Will Umno allow the MMS what they denied the MIC? If the answer is in the negative, then there is absolutely no difference between MIC and MMS, except perhaps the party name and the office bearers. The more important question remains whether MMS will permit Hindraf members to join them, and I am predicting that they will, maybe not in the immediate future but sometime before the next federal elections.
So, wake up fellas (Indians). If you truly desire an appropriate representation in both the Parliament and the State Assemblies, vote Pakatan.
