Malaysian Indian United Party defectors have been warned not to cause disruption and disharmony in the party which they left behind.
Party president KS Nallakaruppan said that while he could not stop a handful of leaders from leaving, he would not however sit idly when these defectors start causing problems to the party from outside.
“We know that some of these defectors are trying to create problems for us by contacting our members and state leaders, asking them to leave the party.
“Let me warn them to stop these activities. Once they are out of the party, they should just concentrate on serving their new party. They should not try to pull our members out to join them,” he said today.
In the aftermath of the general election, MIUP has been hit by several defections involving some top level leaders, all of whom had returned to their old party PKR.
Some of these leaders were with Nallakaruppan when he left PKR last year following a fallout with PKR leader and good friend Anwar Ibrahim. These leaders then joined forces with him to establish MIUP, which was launched on Nov 25 last year. In the recently held general election, MIUP threw its full support behind BN.
Referring to the leaders who went back to PKR, Nallakaruppan said that he hoped the party (PKR) would be aware of the character of these defectors.
“Some of them played an important role in influencing me to part ways with Anwar and the party.
“Now they have gone back to the party, stating that they only believed in PKR’s ideology. I hope Anwar is aware of the sort of people he is dealing with.
“These are people aiming for financial rewards, not those who have any form of political belief,” added Nallakaruppan.
Political opportunists
The former businessman said that it was a blessing in disguise for his party that these defectors had gone now and “not at a later date when their absence would have been felt deeper”.
“I still have my loyal supporters, members whom I brought into MIUP. These people will help me serve the community. We don’t need political opportunists,” he added.
He said that he had already replaced the departed leaders with capable persons who enjoy strong grassroots support.
“These defectors will one day regret leaving us. They will see that MIUP will survive without them, even do much better than they had anticipated.
“Our aim is to help the community. We will not waver from that cause. Leaders may come and go but our aim will remain. Our members will remain focussed in achieving that,” added Nallakaruppan.
‘Many still with us’
The latest defection to effect the party is the Penang state leader in L Balasupramaniyam who is said to be upset and disillusioned with Nallakaruppan's ‘diddling’ political style. He is expected to join PKR soon.
Yesterday MIUP’s leadership rallied around Nallakaruppan, defending his leadership style and the party’s future.
In a statement issued to the media, MIUP deputy president S Arumugam and vice president R Jagathisvaran, said that members can leave the party if they “cannot perform or expect monetary gains to serve the people”.
“Nallakaruppan did not in any way compromise the interests of thousands of MIUP members for his selfish gains,” they said.
Arumugam and Jagathisvaran said that they were confident that MIUP could achieve its aims of servicing the community.
“We are confident that many of our members are with us in our struggles,” they added.
"I am sure that he would bring good news for the Indian community as soon as he becomes the prime minister in March," he told in a statement.
