KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 ― MCA and MIC were almost wiped out in the general elections two years ago but with the recent turn of events, the parties are suddenly part of a new government and yet, they remain cautious.
MIC President Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran said the party may be a Barisan Nasional (BN) component, which is now part of the new government, but there is still so much uncertainty.
“We do not know who the prime minister will pick for the Cabinet, we can only hope that we will really be a part of the government and hope that this will be a fair government,” he told Malay Mail in a brief interview.
He noted that the public was unhappy with the political upheaval resulting in the Pakatan Harapan government collapsing and leading to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia forming an alliance with BN, PAS and GPS to take over Putrajaya.
He said MIC had supported Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to be the prime minister because it was the right thing to do to end the week-long political uncertainty.
When asked about MIC's role in a coalition that consisted of pre-dominantly Malay parties, he said it will continue with its fight for ethnic Indians' rights.
He said having more Malay-based parties in a coalition does not mean non-Malays will be forgotten.
“Even under Pakatan Harapan for the past two years, there were so many Indian ministers but were the Indian rights protected? More Indian representation does not mean Indian rights will be protected,” he said.
He also stressed that MIC never had any issues working with new ally, Islamist party PAS.
Meanwhile, party Youth chief R.Thinalan said it is nothing new for MIC to work with a predominantly Malay government, as under the BN administration previously was also a Malay-dominant one.
He said it has nothing to do with the number of representations in the Cabinet but the quality of representation that mattered.
He echoed Vigneswaran's views that PH may have had more Indian representation in its Cabinet, but claimed this did not translate into benefits for the Indian community.
“I believe our president, Vignes, knows to draw the line and to work with the current government for the benefit of the Indian community,” he said.
MIC currently only had two Parliament and three state seats.
As for MCA, the Chinese-based party remained cautious over the recent happenings.
Senator Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker said the party ist now waiting for the prime minister to decide on the Cabinet.
“Things are not clear yet so we will wait and see first,” he said, adding that the party will continue with its work of serving the people as usual for now.
MCA was almost wiped out in the 2018 elections, losing all of its state seats and retaining only the Ayer Hitam constituency in Johor.
The party also won the Tanjung Piai by-election last year.
Both MCA and MIC had declared their support for Muhyiddin in a statement issued under the BN banner, only hours after Umno and PAS had made a similar declaration.
