BARISAN Nasional (BN) component party MIC will meet tomorrow morning to decide if it will field candidates in the upcoming general election (GE), S.A.Vigneswaran said.

The MIC president said the party will not be attending tonight’s meeting to unveil BN candidates at World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.

In a short WhatsApp message to The Malaysian Insight, Vigneswaran said the party’s emergency meeting tomorrow will decide if MIC will accept or reject seats it is offered, or remain uninvolved in the GE. 

The MIC president said he does not want the party to be drawn further into the matter.

In the last general election the party had contested in nine seats with its deputy M Saravanan retaining the Tapah seat and the then youth chief C Sivarraajh winning the Cameron Highlands seat.

However, the Cameron Highlands seat was lost in 2019 after the election court annulled Sivaraajh’s win for alleged vote-buying.

In the subsequent by-election, BN fielded Ramli Md Noor, who went on to win and become the country’s first Orang Asli MP.

The MIC fit adds to the Barisan Nasional drama that has been unfolding since the start of the week.

Its lynchpin Umno has been grappling from fallout as rumours swirled that top veterans were going to be dropped from its lineup for GE15.

THE Barisan Nasional (BN) machinery in Jempol, Negri Sembilan is the latest to shut down after incumbent Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif is said to have been culled as a candidate by the Umno leadership.

The move comes as Barisan Nasional chairman Ahmad Zahid prepares to announce its candidate line up for the 15th general election at the World Trade Centre at 8pm today.

Yesterday, Perlis BN strongman and incumbent Arau MP Shahidan Kassim hinted that he had been dropped from the Umno ticket, following a brief message he left on Facebook.

“Tonight is the saddest night ever. All operations rooms in BN Arau have been shut and the flags lowered,” he posted on his personal Facebook page. 

“This is the first time in history,” he added in the two-paragraph post.

Shahidan did not explicitly say he was dropped but throughout the day rumours swirled that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was in the process of culling all those opposed to his leadership in a move to strengthen his position as BN headed for the polls.

Among those rumoured to be on Zahid’s chopping block are Selangor Umno chief and Tanjung Karang MP Noh Omar, Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak), Adham Baba (Tenggara), and Halimah Mohamed Sadique (Kota Tinggi).

Earlier today, former Ketereh MP Annuar Musa is also leaving it to the Umno leadership to decide whether or not he will defend his seat in GE15. 

He confirmed that he had not received any invitation to attend the announcement of candidates for the polls.

Malaysia will vote on November 19. Early voting is on November 15. Nomination day is on November 5. – November 1, 2022.