A random survey by MIC revealed that the support from the Indian community for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's leadership has increased, party president S Samy Vellu said today.

"We expect the support to increase further in the next few months," he said.

At the same time, he said the support for MIC has also improved tremendously after its poor showing in the last general election, losing six out of its nine parliamentary and 12 out of its 19 state seats.

samy vellu exclusive on tamil schools 080708 06 "The prime minister's 1Malaysia concept has captivated the hearts and minds of the Indians as it is not merely a slogan but has been translated into actions beneficial to the community," he told reporters after opening the party Youth wing's leadership forum in Kuala Lumpur.

It was reported recently that the Merdeka Centre survey showed that some 74 percent of Indians polled were satisfied with Najib's performance as prime minister.

Samy Vellu said the increase in support for Najib among the Indians was attributed to the many reforms undertaken by him and his administration.

He said the 11 initiatives announced by the prime minister yesterday, including allocating RM15 million under Tekun for Indian entrepreneurs has boosted his support among the Indians.

rosmah and najib bakti event 070709 03 "Before this, the prime minister allocated RM100 million for Tamil schools, RM20 million for Indian youth development programmes and RM499 million worth of Amanah Saham Malaysia shares," he said.

He said the intake of Indians into public universities and public sector has also improved, stressing that almost nine percent of Indians were recruited into the civil service.

Samy Vellu said many of the new policies and allocations for the Indian community introduced by the government were contained in several recommendations made by MIC over the past 18 months.

He thanked Najib for considering many of the party’s proposals which coincidentally were also similar to the demands made by other Indian organisations

MIC elections

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On the MIC elections, Samy Vellu said he would probably announce his line-up after nominations for the post of deputy president, three vice-president and 23 central working committee members.

"I can't say now but I have my own preferred candidates (for all the posts)," he said.

mic and palanivel The MIC polls are scheduled to be held on Sept 12 while nominations would take place two weeks before polling.

Samy Vellu is said to be backing incumbent MIC deputy president G Palanivel for the number two post while the other contenders were former deputy president S Subramaniam and vice-president S Sothinathan.

MIC secretary-general and Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam may also join in the fray.