While I would not agree with P Uthayakumar of Prim that the opposition parties discriminate against the Indian minority, he does have a point when we face the reality that there is zero Indian representation in the opposition benches in the federal and state parliaments. All progressive parties need to take note and to take appropriate actions to ensure that in the coming election, they redress this oversight.

Their knee-jerk response to Uthayakumar's charge is feigned innocence. We hear responses like: "Tell me, what is a safe seat...?" and "we don't go on a racial basis..."

Such a response is patent hypocrisy since we know that in every political party, whether ruling or opposition, they are all discussing their 'safe' seats and their 'no hopers'. If not, why did Kerk Kim Hock declare that he was prepared to vacate his Kota Melaka seat for Guan Eng?

Uthayakumar's point is well taken. But it is not because these opposition parties discriminate against Indians. It is basically the problem of macho politicians who abound in politics, who are considered "indispensable" by their fawning underlings. As I have pointed out in ' Democracy for Dummies ':

"The spirit of democracy is to generate capable citizens, and the more capable citizens (ie. the greater the proportion of the inhabitants who are political equals), the better. This is what empowerment of the people is all about. Empowerment of citizens - men and women - must be given the highest priority. A democratic society is not one in which the leaders are considered the only competent people but rather, one in which they are simply the representative of other competent men wnd women."

Adequate representation of minorities and women is a recognised principle of democracy. As Uthayakumar has pointed out, even the unprogressive Barisan Nasional grants this principle to the Indian and other ethnic minorities and women. This is the infamous 'BN racial formula' which is their political means to a basically racial end. But in the process, the Indian minority is represented in the BN! And they have not been represented in the opposition ever since the 1999 general elections!

The lesson in Uthayakumar's outburst is simply for the opposition to take this point seriously and not to dismiss it off-hand and carry on their business as usual.