Umno, BN bukan musuh MIC – Vigneswaran

MIC terbuka untuk bertemu dengan kepimpinan Barisan Nasional (BN) sekiranya dipelawa bagi membincangkan masa depan parti itu dalam gabungan berkenaan.

Presidennya, Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran berkata, MIC tidak pernah menganggap gabungan yang dipimpin Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi itu dan UMNO sebagai musuh.

“Buat masa ini kita belum dapat jemputan untuk adakan pertemuan dengan BN. Boleh berjumpa bila-bila masa. Semua orang kena faham BN atau UMNO dengan MIC bukan musuh pun, kita bersama lebih 60 tahun.

“Apa yang kita buat ini demi masa depan parti kerana kita lihat MIC tidak diberikan ruang dan apabila sesuatu keputusan diambil bukan bermakna MIC hendak ugut sesiapa, MIC tidak pernah macam itu dan tidak pernah hendak mengecilkan hati sesiapa,” katanya Khamis lalu.

We are not your enemy, says Vigneswaran

MIC is not enemies with Umno or Barisan Nasional (BN), its president SA Vigneswaran said on Thursday, urging his fellow party leaders to refrain from issuing further statements on MIC’s future in BN for fear of adding to tensions.

Expressing his willingness to discuss the party’s future in BN with the coalition’s leadership, he said they could “meet any time”, as MIC had been in the coalition for over 60 years.

Vigneswaran also said the expressed intention of party members for MIC to exit BN was “for the sake of the party’s future, as we see that MIC is not being given space (in the coalition)”.

“If a decision is made, it does not mean that MIC is threatening anyone. MIC has never been like that and does not mean to hurt anybody’s feelings,” Sinar Harian reported him as saying.

His remarks come a day after MIC national strategy director C Sivaraj blamed Umno for the collapse of BN’s Indian support, saying the real cause was the decisions made by Umno during its time in government.