Any discussion about Indian representation in the Pakatan Harapan leadership structure must not be for the sake of "window dressing" but rather to fulfil a necessary political need.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy who said this, added that the Harapan leadership structure reflected the hierarchy of the existing component parties.

He called for new structures to be created for the coalition to nominate new leaders to address the “glaring lacuna”.

“In this respect, Harapan should avoid creating bureaus to address the leadership vacuum. Rather, representation should be predicated on the basis of respect and dignity,” Ramasamy told Malaysiakini.

“Dismantling BN's kleptocratic regime is not an easy task, no effort should be spared in creating and sustaining a dynamic and vibrant political coalition that might create history in the near future,” he added.

“Any effort on the part of the Harapan leadership to have representative structures to reflect the diversity of this country should not be considered as a mere concession.

“It should be deemed a political necessity to reflect the larger reality,” the DAP Perai assemblyperson reiterated. 

Ramasamy was referring to concerns about Indian representation in Harapan, which were raised by DAP Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo (photo) and prominent human rights advocate Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Ambiga noted that there was no Indian vice-president in the Harapan leadership structure, and said if the coalition was serious about the Indian vote, it must show in the line-up.

The prominent lawyer had said this in the wake of Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad meeting with Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia chief P Waythamoorthy on possible collaboration ahead of the forthcoming 14th general election (GE14).

Gobind was quoted in Free Malaysia Today as saying that he agreed that the Indian question in Harapan was “an important matter which needs to be dealt with and I think it must be handled fast”.

Ramasamy expressed total agreement with both leaders, saying he had similarly lamented on the matter on a few occasions in the recent past.

He said the concerns about the lack of Indian leaders in Harapan raised by the duo and himself were serious ones so that Harapan, given the limited time, could adopt some rectification measures.

“The question is: what should be the level of their participation if there is agreement among the leadership to seriously consider taking in more Indian leaders, mostly those from the existing component parties?” asked Ramasamy.

He pointed out that Ambiga was not the first one to question Harapan about the lack of Indian leaders.

He said the matter was discussed within the Harapan component parties after the formation of national and state structures.

“Perhaps Ambiga brought it out in the open. Anyway, it was not a criticism but genuine concern for the future of Harapan, particularly about its nature of ethnic and regional representation,” said the former university don.

“I have been informed that the matter of Indian representation has been taken up in Harapan’s presidential council and further discussions have been planned in the near future,” he said.