The People's Progressive Party (PPP), a Barisan Nasional (BN) component, has firmly denied claims that it was flexing its political muscle by trying to sign up 1.6 million people as associate members.

On Jan 18, the party met with 13 associations representing 1.6 million Malaysians who form the country's minority communities for a possible merger - dubbed as a 'mini BN'.

PPP president M Kayveas was quoted as saying that the voices of the minorities, whether a show of support or airing of grievances, would be better heard through a multi-racial party.

However, the meeting has given Umno vice-president and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak cause for concern.

Bernama

quoted him as saying that the membership of the associations would be checked first to avoid any duplication of membership with other BN parties.

Najib also said that it was "too early to gauge whether PPP could emerge the second largest component in the BN".

Not changing equilibrium

In response to this, Kayveas explained that the figure was a representation of Malaysians who fall under each group based on their ethnicity.

"For example, the Malaysian Ceylonese Congress has about 80,000 members but there are over 300,000 Ceylonese Malaysians in the country," he said when met in Kuala Lumpur recently.

He also vehemently denied that the proposed merger will change the equilibrium within the coalition.

"We are not claiming to register 1.6 million new members. That figure only reflects the number of minority voices wishing to be represented through the PPP," he told malaysiakini .

"We have no intention of pinching members or to create confusion or tension. Our intention is not to compete with the other component parties or show political strength. It is not politically-motivated."

Groups like the Malaysian Ceylonese Congress, the Gujerati Association of Malaysia, the Punjabi Party of Malaysia and the Indian Muslim Congress of Malaysia, said Kayveas, have been approaching the PPP for such an arrangement over the past few years.

The Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, who chaired the Jan 18 meeting, also said that all 13 bodies unanimously decided to maintain their respective identities.

"They agreed to form a pro tem committee under a multi-racial umbrella to show their support for the BN. The fact is that these groups are too small to form their own political party," he added.

No guarantee

On Feb 14, a second round of talks in Putrajaya will deliberate on the constitution and the issue of associate membership in the PPP. At present, PPP claims to have 380,000 card-carrying members.

"For now, the representatives are okay with the idea of having an associate membership in the party. In fact, some of them have expressed their wish to remain apolitical and only want their grievances attended to," he said.

"The name Pertubuhan Penyokong-Penyokong Barisan Nasional (BN Supporters Organisation) has also been proposed but it will be discussed further on Valentine's Day."

On whether he can guarantee that all minorities are BN supporters, Kayveas said no one can decide where the votes will go.

"Admittedly, not all 1.6 million are BN supporters as I'm sure there are members of other political parties. But whether they are BN or opposition members, this segment is negligible.

"But these associations, especially MCC, PPM and Kimma, have always come forward to support the BN and they have been approaching PPP to voice out their support. Now is the time."

PPP is currently working on establishing a central membership database which is expected to be completed by March.