MIC pledges support for Anwar until end of term

MIC has pledged to support Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to lead the country until the end of the parliamentary term.

Its president SA Vigneswaran also urged other parties to take a similar stance in backing the "legitimate" administration led by Anwar.

"MIC urges other parties to give a chance to Anwar to continue serving as the PM until the end of the term.

"Although in a parliamentary democracy, a government can be changed, what's important now is for all parties to focus on helping the rakyat and prioritise country's development," he said.

Vigneswaran said this to reporters after chairing MIC's central working committee (CWC) meeting in Kuala Lumpur, last night.

No political coalition gained a clear majority to form the government after the 15th general election (GE15).

This eventually led to BN, of which MIC is a component party, to work with its former foe Pakatan Harapan to form a coalition government at the federal level, and in several states.

It was said that before the tie-up, MIC reportedly opposed BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's proposal for the coalition to work with Harapan.

There were also recent rumours that several BN MPs are planning to vacate their seats in an attempt to destabilise and topple the government, but Zahid had denied it.

Meanwhile, Vigneswaran stressed that Anwar commanded the support of enough MPs when he was appointed prime minister by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

"I want to stress that before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong decided (to make Anwar PM), Anwar already had the backing of 147 MPs.

"So I hope that no one would question the number of MPs who support the coalition government," he said.

May contest 'reasonable' seats

Meanwhile, Vigneswaran said MIC will not demand to be given its traditional seats for the upcoming state elections in six states.

However, it would suffice if the party's candidates can be fielded in "reasonable" state seats.

"MIC will not ask for the traditional seats contested previously.

"In this state elections, our focus would be on 'reasonable' seats where there are chances of winning," he said, adding that the decision was made after taking into account the country's current political climate.

Vigneswaran stressed that whatever decision pertaining to seat allocation, BN leadership will make the final call.

He was earlier asked about how many seats MIC was planning to contest in for the upcoming state polls.

MIC currently holds six state seats nationwide - namely Sabai (Pahang), Jeram Padang (Negeri Sembilan), Gadek (Malacca), as well as Kemelah, Kahang, and Tenggaroh, all in Johor.

As for parliamentary seat, MIC only has one (Tapah), held by former minister M Saravanan.

According to Vigneswaran, MIC realises that it is now an ally of Harapan in the coalition government, and therefore, it would not be proper to demand the same number of seats as before.

He added that the party has identified several seats that the party could possibly win, but did not divulge details.

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