KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 — Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today asserted that MIC is still a component member of the coalition, amid speculations over its status.

He added that while there had been communication on the matter, the party itself has denied any intention to leave BN.

“They are still core members of BN,” he told reporters when asked about MIC’s status after officiating at the AGM of BN ally, Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress at the World Trade Centre here.

“They didn’t request to leave us formally. There was apparently a letter sent to Perikatan Nasional to join them, but at the same time they denied that they had applied to leave BN,” he said.

MIC, alongside Umno and MCA, founded the Alliance that led Malaya in the early days of independence from colonial British rule, and remained on board when the coalition underwent a name change and expansion in 1973. 

At its assembly last November, MIC delegates voted to leave BN.

But MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran later said the three motions in favour of exiting BN was deferred.