'Indian community played decisive role in Najib victory'

The ethnic Indian minority community in Malaysia, played a major role in the victory of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional, according to political analysts.
Barisan would not have won in several areas if the ethnic Indians had not voted for the coalition comprising of candidates from the Malaysian Indian Congress, which is the country's largest Indian based political party, said Sivamurugan Pandian, Associate Professor in Universiti Sains Malaysia.
He said that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's efforts were the main reason the minority community supported Barisan which won Sunday's general elections by a simple majority of 133 parliamentary seats in the 222-seat Parliament.

Pandian added that the coalition which has been in power for 56 years, won even though many from the ethnic Chinese community backed the opposition alliance led by Anwar Ibrahim.
Malaysia has a population of 29 million people which includes 60 per cent Malays who are all Muslims, 25 per cent ethnic Chinese who are mostly Christians and Buddhists and eight per cent ethnic Indians who are mostly Hindus.
The ethnic Indian community had backed the opposition alliance in the last general elections leading to BN losing its usual 3/4th majority. This time too the ruling coalition has won a simple majority.

Sivamurugan said that the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) managed to retain four out of its nine parliamentary seats although it also hoped for wins in Sungai Siput and Teluk Kemang.

Sungai Siput was held for four terms by Samy Vellu, veteran ethnic Indian leader and former head of MIC. He lost the seat in the 2008 general polls. The party also contested in 18 state seats but only managed to win five - three in Johor and one each in Malacca and Negri Sembilan.
"Overall, nothing much has changed for MIC as it took a third of the 27 seats contested," he said.

On the other hand, Denison Jayasooria from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said the Barisan component parties, especially Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), MIC, Gerakan and People's Progressive Party (PPP), fared badly in Sunday's elections.
"There should be a review of Barisan as the component parties seem to be a political liability for the majority Malay party UMNO," he said, adding that MIC's performance was the worst in its history.
"The urban swing was significant and MIC must review its relevance," he said, adding that the party needed a new breed of leaders who were in touch with the grassroots.
He said Indian candidates from the Opposition managed to do well, especially those from DAP.