[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 01 Sep 1999
Time: 04:41:47
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50,000 PPP and IPF members to join MIC SHAH ALAM: More than 50,000 members from the People's Progressive Party (PPP) and Indian Progressive Front (IPF) will be joining MIC in the next few weeks. MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said yesterday that 44,000 members would be from the PPP and about 7,000 from IPF.
He said these new members would set up their own branches in Selangor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perak, Kedah, Johor, Pahang and Penang.
"Their admission augurs well for the party which considers itself as the sole representative of the Indian community in the country," he told reporters here after receiving membership application forms from former Selangor PPP chief Alex Thiagarasan and 20,000 of his supporters to join MIC.
"With these 20,000 new members, MIC now has 530,500 members in 4,250 branches," said Samy Vellu.
On the entry of former PPP members into MIC, Samy Vellu who is also Works Minister said this was the first time that the party received such a large number of members at one go.
He said another 8,000-odd former IPF members had applied to join the MIC over the last few weeks.
"In order to be heard, there should only be one voice for the Indian community. We cannot afford to have more than one voice to represent the Indian community," he said, adding that the party was the third largest in the Barisan after Umno and MCA.
Asked why the new members were placed in new branches branches and not absorbed into existing ones, Samy Vellu said it was better for them to work together independently as there may be "cultural differences" if they were placed in the existing branches.
"I want these new members to also hold posts and serve the members who are depending on them," he said, adding that some leaders may be required to serve at the state and national headquarters.