MIC has officially joined PN, Takiyuddin says

2026-03-17 - 04:03

PN secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said the coalition’s Supreme Council confirmed MIC’s admission last Saturday. PETALING JAYA: MIC has officially been approved as a Perikatan Nasional (PN) component, becoming the opposition coalition’s fifth party, according to its secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan. Takiyuddin said while the approval was granted in December, the PN Supreme Council confirmed MIC’s admission last Saturday, Berita Harian reported. “We have officially confirmed the party’s admission, making it the fifth component party of PN,” he said. Takiyuddin, who is also PAS secretary-general, added that he would meet MIC president SA Vigneswaran tonight to present him with an official letter. FMT has reached out to MIC for comment. In January, Vigneswaran said MIC’s top leadership would meet to discuss its formal entry into PN despite the coalition approving the party’s application. Talk of MIC leaving Barisan Nasional 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. Several Umno leaders, however, repeatedly dismissed the speculation. BN secretary-general Zambry Abd Kadir said the coalition had received no official notification from MIC and insisted that it remained part of BN. MIC leaders also joined a recent BN leadership retreat, giving the impression that the party was staying in the coalition. MIC, together with MCA and Umno, was a founding member of the pre-independence Alliance Party, which became BN in 1973.