Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email Uthaya has been staying true to his words so far, not standing for elections and maintaining the apolitical stance. The Malays may feel offended with Makkal Sakthi (obviously clear, since who wants to give up their special privileges and rights by accommodating others), but not the Chinese, or at least not visibly.
Two things are confirmed – more Indians registered as voters, and many Indians are standing as candidates.
Uthaya coy to seat offers
ANALYSIS By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY
The recent Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rallies have led to Makkal Shakthi (people power) among the Indians. Ironically, the man behind the rallies prefers not to be part of the political process. HINDRAF leader P. Uthayakumar, who set off a political firestorm in November, is dead set against contesting in the general election although a suitably “winnable” opposition-held constituency is his for the asking. Even the offer of one of the “best seats” in the DAP arsenal has failed to entice Uthayakumar into entering mainstream politics.
For a man whose every action the past decade had smacked of politics, Uthayakumar, now detained under the Internal Security Act in Kamunting, says he is totally apolitical. “I can best serve the community by being totally apolitical,” he had told Hindraf national co-coordinator R.S. Thanenthiran.
The DAP was the first to recognise and exploit the Hindraf phenomenon, with party veteran Lim Kit Siang describing Indian voters as “kingmakers” in dozens of “marginal constituencies” where government and opposition support was even.
Rightly or and wrongly, many Indians believe that despite their small numbers, they will play a decisive role in the outcome of the elections. Thousands of young Indians had rushed to register as voters in the wake of the Nov 25 rally, even catching opposition parties off-guard. “Before we had to work hard to persuade even a dozen Indians to register as voters but, in December alone, thousands registered on their own,” said DAP vice-chairman M. Kula Segaran.
In one state constituency, Buntong in Ipoh, the spike in Indian voter registration is glaring. More than 52% of the Buntong voters are Indian uniquely making it the sole “Indian majority seat” in Malaysia. “We don’t want to go into specifics but the opposition is now in a better position to win in more constituencies then ever before,” said Kula Segaran.
But political veterans say the mere spike in Indian voters itself is no guarantee of opposition victory. “The candidate profile, local conditions and government policies in particular areas will all come into play to impact the final outcome,” said a former MIC leader.
“A counter reaction is already visible. More Malay and even Chinese voters are negatively aroused by the way Indian voters are flaunting their Makkal Shakthi (people power) phenomenon,” he said, adding that this could prompt voters from other races to turn out in larger numbers to erase the gains to the opposition from Indian support.
The DAP is fielding Indian candidates, many of them lawyers, in 11 parliamentary and at least 20 state constituencies. “The numbers are unprecedented,” said one top DAP leader. Parti Keadilan Rakyat is also fielding an equally large number of Indian candidates and, not counting the inevitable independents, this general election will see a sizeable number of Indian opposition candidates. Add the MIC’s nine parliament and 19 state contestants to the Indian numbers and it will be quite an eye popper. But Uthayakumar – remains “apolitical” in Kamunting while the field is crowded with old war horses and many newcomers riding the Hindraf horse.
Besides familiar faces like Kula Segaran, N. Gobalakrishnan and lawyer S. Sivanesan, the “Indian” field includes “giant” newcomers like former professor P. Ramasamy, NGO activist Charles Santiago and Tamil educationist and lawyer M. Manohar. Although the DAP has dubbed them “giants” they are political novices and are hardly seen on the ground going house-to-house or hitting the morning market to meet the voters.
The MIC, pushed into a corner by Indian opposition, is fielding a whole bunch of new faces to win support. This strategy is predicted to have mixed results because the dominant, over-arching face that hangs over the MIC and the Indian community is still that of party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. He is determined to contest in Sungai Siput again for the 10th time. Or is it the 12th?
Like it or not, Samy Vellu is the stumbling block for many a MIC and Barisan Nasional candidate in this election. If he steps back like Gerakan’s Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik, the Barisan performance would be better. But because he is so determined to soldier on in the face of open and stringent opposition, he has become the unlikely darling of the opposition.
MP: edited.
I take my hats off to Uthayakumar. Any lesser person in his shoes would have gladly put on the mantle of HERO of the downtrodden Indian community. If he had done that all the effort of HINDRAF would have gone down the drain. The BN (edited) especially Samy Velu, would have painted him as a political opportunist.
The very fact that there are many new faces of Indian origin as Opposition candidates shows they are there to blunt the onslaught of the MIC and the BN.
No candidate of the MIC, MCA, PPP or the GERAKAN is in a position to speak for the marginalized communities. They HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO FOLLOW THE DICTATES OF THE RACIST UMNO. So long as these parties cannot assert their independance within the BN, nothing substantial can be gained.
These candidates in the BN can and will only be yes-men to the proponents of the concept of Master Race like the NAZIS of Hitler.