95% of MIC leadership wants to stay in BN, says Puad

2026-03-26 - 03:51

Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said MIC showed an early sign that it was staying in BN when it attended the coalition’s leadership retreat last month. PETALING JAYA: An Umno leader claims that about 95% of MIC’s central working committee (CWC) wants the party to remain in Barisan Nasional (BN), of which MIC is a co-founding member. Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said this was disclosed by a “very trusted” source following a meeting of the MIC CWC yesterday. He urged MIC president SA Vigneswaran to ensure consistency with the stand. “This is the right decision because it’s in line with what the majority of MIC grassroots members want. In any case, MIC attending the BN leadership retreat last month was an early sign that it would stay in BN. “The MIC president needs to follow the majority decision for the sake of the party’s revival and BN’s unity. Otherwise, MIC will be divided and only have its history to its name. “All the more if MIC joins Perikatan Nasional (PN), which is divided. MIC will not be safe. Look at how PAS bullies Bersatu,” he said in a Facebook post. At a press conference yesterday, MIC deputy president M Saravanan said the party would remain in BN for now, but denied that this ruled out any move to join PN. The former minister said MIC had not outright rejected the opposition coalition but that developments within PN required the party to reassess its position, especially with PAS now leading the entity. Talk of MIC leaving BN had been ongoing for some time, especially after the party’s general assembly in November, when delegates gave the leadership the mandate to consider such a move amid dissatisfaction over the party’s role and relevance. Umno, MCA and MIC were founding members of the pre-independence Alliance Party, which became BN in 1973.