MIC, PPP, IPF to merge?

From the Malaysian Insider

Samy Vellu in historic u-turn, merges all Indian political parties today

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 – The Malaysian Insider has learnt that the 2 Indian parties in Barisan National and the rival Indian political party outside the ruling coalition are all to merge today as one.

The MIC, PPP and the IPF political parties are expected to make this announcement soon.

This will be one of the dramatic developments prodded by the election results of Saturday, where all 3 parties were abandoned by their traditional power base, the Indians, as well as rejected at the polls by the electorate, with all MIC party leaders losing their seats, and the PPP’s one candidate, M. Kayveas (picture right) losing his.

The largest of the 3 is the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) led by ousted minister S. Samy Vellu. MIC, a founding member of the ruling coalition, has been the leading voice in Cabinet for the Indian community. It was decimated in the polls, with former Works Minister Samy Velu losing the seat he held for 39 years. It now has only 3 MPs in parliament, minor party figures who all lack Cabinet experience.

The other party in the coalition is the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which had just one MP in the previous parliament: its party chief M. Kayveas, who was also a deputy minister in the last Cabinet.

The one party outside the coalition that claimed to speak for the Indians, once described famously by its rival MIC as a “mosquito party”, is the Indian Progressive Front (IPF). Its leader and founder M. G. Pandithan was formerly a popular MIC leader, before he was sacked from the party for starting a death fast to get charges against him for inciting violence and unrest in MIC, dropped.

The Malaysian Insider revealed last week that the MIC had turned to its long-time rival, IPF, to help canvass for votes in Election 2008.