Saravanan denies MIC joined PN

2026-03-17 - 05:03

MIC deputy president M Saravanan said the party’s central working committee has the final say on whether it will join the opposition coalition. PETALING JAYA: MIC deputy president M Saravanan has rubbished claims by Perikatan Nasional (PN) secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan that the party has officially joined the coalition. Saravanan maintained that the party’s central working committee (CWC) had yet to decide on the matter. “No decision has been made by MIC to join PN. I’ve been very clear from day one: we will let the CWC decide, and the CWC has yet to decide anything,” he told FMT. The Tapah MP also said that MIC had not filed an application to join PN, but had merely enquired about what being a component party would entail. “There was an offer by then PN chairman Muhiyiddin Yassin for MIC to join PN, so we only filed an enquiry,” he said. Saravanan also said he was unaware of any meeting planned between MIC president SA Vigneswaran and Takiyuddin tonight. “The president would have told me,” he added. Takiyuddin earlier said that MIC’s entry into PN had been approved by the coalition’s Supreme Council, and that he would meet Vigneswaran tonight to hand over an official letter confirming the party’s admission. 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. Barisan Nasional (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.