I quite agree with Ambiga Sreenavasan that it would be a good start for PH national leaders to open up discussion with existing Indian leaders in the PH component parties first before talking to others about ensuring adequate Indian representation.
The present PH line-up might not be adequate in terms of addressing the question of Indian representation. I strongly believe that in the coming election, Indians are willing to cast their ballots in favour of PH.
Adequate representation of Indians in the PH at the national and state levels will only contribute to a thinking amongst Indians that PH has their best interests at heart.
The long years of Indian community’s association with the BN is bitter and sad one. This relationship has only served to bring about torment and mystery to Indians who sweated and shed their blood for the well-being of the country.
PH national leadership should recognise and give due respect to Indians by way of providing an effective representation. Remember, Indians made a difference to PR in the 2008 and 2013 general elections. In the coming general election, Indians might be even be considered as king-makers in some electoral constituencies.
Indians should respected not because they are “Indians” but due to their immense contribution to this country.
Indians might be numerically small in number in comparison to Malays and Chinese, but they might make difference in 60 electoral constituencies in the country where they have a sizeable presence. Even this was admitted by one other than former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed in talking about the need for Indian support to defeat the BN in the coming general election.
I fully understand that not all the parties in the PH are multi-racial or multi-religious. In a way, the PH line-up reflects the leadership line-up of the respective political parties. But this is not a over determining factor as there is much flexibility on the part of PH’s presidential council to bring about fairer and more equitable representation.
PH is about to face with a formidable foe in BN in the coming general election, a force with wealth and power of incumbency. Given this, it is only natural that the PH thinks carefully on the question of adequate representation. I am not merely talking about Indian representation alone, but representation that brings together other communities and groups, not only in the peninsular but also in the status of Sabah and Sarawak.
Forming a political coalition to take on BN is an herculean task. It is not easy to bring together political parties with different ideologies and different personalities together for a common purpose. I think that the four component parties have come together at a particular historical juncture to show to Malaysians that an alternative political representation is possible.
However this long road to the formation and consolidation of PH is not complete if there are groups and communities in the country who might feel sidelined being not part of the political representation.