MIC president says Umno-PH cooperation won’t materialise
SUNGAI SIPUT: The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) believes that any cooperation between Umno and Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties for the 15th General Election (GE15) is unlikely to materialise.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) component party president, Tan Sri S.A. Vigneswaran, said there were probably Umno leaders who were seeking to form a secret relationship or cooperation with PH, but they needed to know that the party grassroots would not be agreeable to the idea.
“It will not materialise. It is difficult for DAP members to work with Umno, Umno to work with DAP and vice versa with Keadilan.”
Vigneswaran said this after handing over laptops and assistance to B40 families at the Sungai Siput MIC Service Centre here, yesterday.
He hoped that Umno would make the right decision on the party it wished to join forces with for GE15.
On speculation that there was a move backed by MCA and MIC members to replace Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi with his deputy, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan, to lead the GE15 campaign, Vigneswaran denied it.
“A person is innocent until he is proven guilty.
“If we make it our stance that the person is guilty before the sentence is meted out... that should never happen.
“We take a position of non-interference with our (BN) component parties, but if he (Zahid) is found guilty, the party (Umno) needs to decide so that BN will win in the next general election.
“But any decision will be known later, not now.
“If Umno decides to choose who leads the party, that is their decision.”
A news portal reported that Mohamad could be appointed as the BN point man to lead the coalition’s campaign in GE15, since former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been convicted, while Zahid is facing numerous charges in the courts.
The portal, quoting sources, said speculation was rife that BN had drawn up a Plan B, which involved replacing Zahid with Mohamad, better known as Tok Mat.
The sources, according to the portal, said that there were fears Zahid may be bogged down by the court cases, which are going on even during the emergency.