MIC leader questions ‘fickle-minded’ Umno chiefs

(Bernama) – Umno’s Indian partner in Barisan Nasional (BN) today said the Malay party cannot reverse its earlier decision to support Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin without going through the coalition’s Supreme Council.

MIC said any decision should be made after consulting the others in BN, which comprises Umno, MCA and MIC, as the parties had agreed to join the Perikatan Nasional government en bloc last year.

“Umno keeps changing its stance. Today it says something, another day it says something else, and maybe it will say something different,” MIC deputy president M Saravanan, who is part of the federal Cabinet, told MalaysiaNow when asked during a press conference to announce a job carnival by the human resources ministry.

Saravanan is one of three non-Umno MPs from BN in the Dewan Rakyat, with the two others from MCA.

He said MIC cannot be subjected to constantly changing positions by Umno leaders.

“It should not be the case. Whatever decision, whether to be together with PN or not, must be first discussed,” he said.

He was asked about MIC’s stance on reports that Umno would not join hands with Muhyiddin’s Bersatu in the next polls.

Umno has not confirmed the reports, based on sources which cited a recent meeting by top party leaders in Janda Baik outside Kuala Lumpur.

But since late last year, former prime minister Najib Razak, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and several other party leaders have been promoting the idea of Umno working with PAS in the next election on their Muafakat Nasional platform.

PAS has so far snubbed calls from Umno to dump Bersatu, and has even signed up as a component party of PN.