Veteran MIC leader joins Anwar's team

(Malaysian Mirror) - MIC leaders are not overly concerned that one of its former vice-presidents has defected to the opposition PKR today. For S Samy Vellu and his people, SS Subramaniam has ‘retired’and no longer active in politics.

For PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim however, Subramaniam’s entry into his party is a major coup and ‘good news’ for the Indian community in the country.

As for the defector himself, SS Subramaniam didn’t make much of his joining PKR except to hope that the new party he has just embraced would fulfill his dream of uniting Malaysians of all races.

Subramaniam, in his early seventies, was welcomed by Anwar and other PKR leaders into the party at a ceremony here today. The defector also announced at the function that he would bring in some 2,000 MIC members into PKR and that 12 MIC branches in the party would close.

In his brief address, Subramaniam revealed that he has been a supporter of Anwar and his policies for a long time.

“I believe that a multi-racial party like PKR will be able to fight for all races in the country,” he said.

'Samy caused division among Indians'

He also took a pot shot at Samy Vellu, claiming that the MIC president was responsible for the wide division in the Indian communities and that he (Samy) has outlived his usefulness.

Subramaniam has served one term as MP for Segamat and is also a former state assemblyman for Bukit Raja. His most senior public post was as parliamentary secretary to the old Ministry of Trade and Industry (now renamed Ministry of International Trade and Industry).

Several MIC branch leaders in Petaling Jaya also announced at the function that they were dissolving their branches.

For Anwar and PKR, they had another ‘good news’ a week ago when former MCA strongman Chua Jui Meng joined the party.

Other prominent BN leaders who recently joined PKR are former Gerakan veep Dr Tan Tee Kwong and former deputy MCA Wanita leader Dr Tan Yew Kew. Both had previously served in the Cabinet.

Chua Jui Meng is also a former health minister.