Waythamoorthy apologises to poor Malaysian Indians

(The Star) – Former deputy Minister P. Waythamoorthy has “sincerely apologised” to the Indian poor for “not being able to fulfil socio-economic reform programs” that he promised based on an MOU signed with the Barisan Nasional government prior to GE13.

One week after resigning from his position as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, he said in a statement that Hindraf was not able to fulfil any of their pledges they made during the elections.

“Before the last General Elections we called upon the Indian people to vote for Barisan. The Indian poor responded, and the BN won narrowly.

“Now ten months after the elections, Hindraf is not able to fulfil any of the pledges we made to the Indian poor during the elections.

“We know this will be disappointing to many of the poor people who had trusted us and voted for Barisan hoping for positive changes,” said the Hindraf chief.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Friday had said that Waythamoorthy’s resignation was “disheartening” but that he had accepted it.

Waythamoorthy claimed that in the last eight months he had tried to work patiently with the Prime Minister to rollout the programs as stated in the agreement, but they had not been able to move on even one item.

“I make no excuses for our failure; I take full ownership for the failure and its consequences. I sincerely apologize to the Indian poor for this failure. I hope they will accept our apologies as we move on into our next chapters in our struggle for fairness, equality, justice and dignity,” he said.