From Jeffri Saling

So another charade played out yesterday as the MIC annual general meeting deferred its decision on whether to remain in Barisan Nasional to party president SA Vigneswaran and the central working committee.

It is a clear action of a party with little or no leverage, trying to do some last-minute haggling. Why are they dragging this out now?

MIC deputy president M Saravanan had tabled a resolution on whether to quit BN and join Perikatan Nasional, and the party has clearly been edging towards this move all year long.

While ostensibly a partner in the government, MIC plays a negligible role. Its sole MP, former minister Saravanan, in particular, has been angling for a larger piece of the action.

Through control of the Tamil language media and its portrayal of issues such as the temple in Jalan Dang Wangi, MIC has steadily tried to stir up discontent against the government it is part of.

Saravanan was not wrong earlier this year when he said that MIC is an unwanted guest, and one wonders if and why Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had asked the party to reconsider its decision.

MIC claims to represent the Indians, yet has been substantially overtaken by PKR and DAP, who have significantly more representation with at least 10 Indian MPs collectively.

In fact, MCA and MIC’s fate was sealed when Umno brought BN into the Madani government. Anwar needed Umno to form the government, while the two parties were just excess baggage.

Now, with Umno at the helm of four states – Pahang, Johor, Perak and Melaka – and holding ministerial posts, MIC and MCA cannot even claim the minor concessions they once received.

There should be no more lingering over this decision. A clean break is what is needed.

Jeffri Saling is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.