Kuala Lumpur, April 17 (Inditop) “No pullout, case closed”, said Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) chief S. Samy Vellu while categorically rejecting speculation that his party wants to quit the Malaysian government.
Vellu met Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak Thursday to say that the sole cabinet minister and two junior ministers from the MIC be retained in the government.
S. Subramaniam is the human resource minister, while the two junior ministers are S. Devamani and M. Sarvanan.
He told the media after chairing the party’s central working committee meeting that the prime minister should consider a ‘senior’ ministry to be given to the MIC and the appointment of an MIC woman representative as deputy minister.
“I told him this is my request. I leave it in his hands,” New Straits Times quoted him as saying.
The MIC had said the party might withdraw from the government for being allotted a ‘junior’ ministry at the cabinet level, the report said.
Vellu said he did not seek the Works Ministry, which he held for long till he suffered a shock defeat in the election last year. He said he had merely asked for a senior ministry.
MIC has traditionally spoken for Malaysia’s two million-plus ethnic Indians and has been part of the government since the independence in 1957.
A bulk of the Indians came here during the British era. They form eight percent of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic population.
The prime minister, who took office April 4, has said the constituents of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional were welcome to make suggestions, but the final decision about the parties’ representation, and the portfolios would be his
