00:01MIC may be risking decades in the political wilderness if it parts ways with Barsan National,
00:07an analyst has warned ahead of the party's annual general meeting this October.
00:12Laozi Wei of International Islamic University Malaysia said MIC, like MCA,
00:18has no role or presence within the United government, not even symbolically.
00:23However, Lao warned that quitting BN or striking out on its own would be a high-risk move on MIC's part.
00:31He pointed to PKR's early years in the late 1990s when it lacked a coherent voter bloc and struggled to garner support as a multi-ethnic party.
00:40Lao cited parties like Gerakan which left their coalition to go independent but failed and later aligned with Barsan National.
00:48He added that MIC has yet to demonstrate the kind of firmness needed to endure a struggle.
00:54MIC, which holds only one parliamentary seat in TAPA, again voiced its dissatisfaction recently over being sidelined within the United government,
01:02saying it felt like an unwanted guest.
01:05Meanwhile, Deputy President M Sarumanan reportedly claimed the party had been promised a Cabinet post after the 2022 general election,
01:13only to be cheated when the promise was not fulfilled.
