NEW Generation Party (NewGen) will work to secure up to 20% swing votes from multi-ethnic minorities, including Indians, for Pakatan Harapan (PH), said the party chairman.

Rajaretinam Armuggan said NewGen Party hoped to join Pakatan Harapan (PH) to seek change in Putrajaya.

“The direct involvement of NGOs in cooperation with NewGen Party will ensure victory for PH.

“Ethnic Indians will be the determinant in more than 50 parliament and more than 100 state constituencies, while the natives are the determinant in almost seven parliamentary areas and 10 state constituencies.

“We are confident that NewGen/Mira party, with the support of more than 100 NGOs, will ensure a 15-20% vote swing from the Indians to PH in areas where the Indians are the determinants for a victory,” he told a press conference at Kuala Lumpur today.

NewGen Party will soon apply to the Registrar of Societies to change its name to Minorities Rights Action Party (Mira), he said, adding that the party leadership was made up of NGO leaders who have been   on the ground for more than 20 years.

Rajaretinam said the party aimed to bolster PH and ensuring it won in the next polls so that it could form the new government.

“We are confident we can deliver about 25 seats of the 38 Barisan Nasional (BN) seats to Pakatan Harapan in GE14.

“In addition, we can help to strengthen 12 of 24 marginal seats that the opposition is in danger of losing,” he said.

He also said NewGen would not contest seats held by PH leaders and would only run for seats identified and allowed by the PH presidential council.

“(We hope that the) fate of the minorities and marginalised will change.

“We also hope our friends in PH will consider our application to join the coalition as we are sincere and we are asking for nothing more. We do not have any demands,” he said while adding that Putrajaya should acknowledge UN 1992 Resolution on Minorities Rights so that minority and marginalised communities would no longer be sidelined as the country progressed.

On Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s meeting with Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (Hindraf) , Rajaretinam said NewGen was not competing with the Hindu group.

“I wish them all the best. They are not our competitors.

“We represent multi-ethnic minorities. Hindraf cannot be (our) competitor because they are representing the Hindus,” he added.

Last month, Dr Mahathir had a meeting with Hindraf to invite the Hindu pressure group to join the opposition coalition.

However, PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali said in statement that the invitation to Hindraf had not been never discussed by the opposition pact’s top leadership.

Umno vice-president Hishammudin Hussein had called the meeting a “desperate move” by the opposition. – September 23, 2017.