MIC wants Abdullah to come out with integration policy

2008/04/14

MIC, the largest Indian-based political party in the country, wants Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chief Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to formulate a strong integration programmme to strengthen the ruling coalition.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the programme must also seek to strengthen individual component parties with the ruling coalition, which lost its long-held two-third majority in Parliament in the recent general election.

“This is essential to regroup and reorganise our strategies and directions in order to regain the trust and confidence of the people. As such, we must not delay on this exercise,” the former Works Minister said in a statement.

The programme, he said, must also entail policies and plans for the respective communities and it must be executed immediately.

“The policies and plans must be announced to the public and the time frame be set for their implementation. If we fail to carry out this task, we will fail in our journey towards reaching our goals for the nation and people,” the veteran politician added.
On the Indian community, the MIC supremo urged the government to expedite assistance to the bottom 30 percent in the community, who are still unemployed and living in poverty.

“I suggest the formation of a committee headed by the prime minister and deputy prime minister, and its members consisting of all the heads of the BN component parties, to discuss and chart out the development programmes that will have to be implemented immediately.

“The time has come for us to build a truly united Malaysian nation. If we fail to do this, it would mean we are encouraging our supporters to go along with the opposition.

“We need to attend to the problems of the people with a clear and unbiased mind,” said the MIC president.