MIC president S. Vigneswaran today dispelled rumours that last night’s Barisan Nasional (BN) supreme council meeting was cancelled as component parties had threatened to withdraw from the coalition.

 “No, no (member party) wants to withdraw from the BN. You can quote me as saying this. No one has withdrawn from the BN,” Vigneswaran told The Malaysian Insight.

He said he did not know why the BN supreme council meeting was cancelled, but he had earlier indicated that he would not be attending.

“I had notified that I will not attend the meeting, but this is not the reason (my absence) to cancel the supreme council meeting. I have to ask the BN chairman (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) what is the reason.

“At MIC’s 74th annual general assembly (AGM) held a few days ago, I was very tired and had already applied for sick leave not to attend the meeting, but the real reason for the cancellation of the meeting, you have to ask the BN chairman. I really don’t know,” he said.

According to sources, MCA also did not confirm its attendance to the BN supreme council meeting on Monday night prior to its cancellation.

MCA president Wee Ka Siong was not contacted to confirm his attendance, the same was true for United Sabah People’s Party (PBRS), another BN component party.

Among the BN member parties, only Umno had unilaterally announced that it will not cooperate with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the next general election.

This was at the party’s annual general assembly two weekends ago when party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Umno will not to cooperate with Bersatu, Anwar Ibrahim or DAP in the next elections.

“We will stick to the decision of the Supreme Council of no Bersatu, Anwar or DAP,” Zahid had said.

“There have been no discussions made with any of the parties, either formally or informally. Moreover, we will contest under the Barisan Nasional banner and the ‘dacing’ logo.”

However, at the MIC congress, Vigneswaran in his speech said the party will continue supporting Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government until a final decision is made by the BN supreme council.

He added that since MIC is still a member of the government, it will still be pro-Muhyiddin.

In response to Umno Supreme Council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi’s warning that MIC should not be hasty in finding new political partners, Vigneswaran clarified that MIC’s decision to stay with PN was not made in a hurry, but in line with Umno’s decision to stay with the Muhyiddin-led government until Parliament is dissolved.

He also dismissed claims that MIC was backing PN to garner more seats in the 15th general election (GE15).

When asked about the divide between MIC and Umno, Vigneswaran said that there was no such thing.

He said that now is the time to make changes. Political parties must start listening to the voices of young people, stop racial discrimination, have honest leaders and pay attention to issues like education.

“We need leaders with both talents and virtues. We must stop religious speeches and treat everyone fairly.”

He stressed that every BN member party loves the coalition because it has been consistent over the years. However, he said all decisions must be made by consensus and individual parties cannot decide BN’s position.

“I have clearly stated this point,” Vigneswaran said.

He also urged BN member parties to “respect each other’s right to disagree.” – April 6, 2021.