adminKUALA LUMPUR: MIC has been allocated four seats to contest in the Johor State Election (PRN), said Vice President Datuk T. Murugiah.
He said the matter was confirmed by MIC President Tan Sri SA. Vigneswaran who attended discussions on the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections with Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties recently.
“Currently, the president has stated that we are contesting four seats in Johor while (for the Negeri Sembilan state election) (the number of seats MIC will contest) has not been decided yet.
“Preparations for that are underway,” he said at a press conference after a meeting on the MIC’s 80th Anniversary Celebration at the MIC Headquarters here today.
He said that to strengthen and streamline the machinery, the party will organise a two-day training for about 150 speakers in Johor Bahru this weekend to enable them to deliver accurate information when campaigning to the Indian community in all Johor State Legislative Assembly (DUN) constituencies.
“They will be given training on how to speak and the message to be conveyed before being assigned to speak in all 56 state seats contested by BN to attract the support of the Indian community.”
“We need to be careful with the narrative presented because BN is still in the Unity Government at the national level,” he said.
In the 15th Johor state election, March 2022, MIC won three of the four seats contested, namely Kemelah, Kahang and Tenggaroh, while losing in Bukit Batu.
Meanwhile, according to internal party sources, MIC will continue to contest in Kemelah, Kahang and Bukit Batu in this election while the Tenggaroh seat will be swapped with UMNO to contest in Perling.
“It can be expected that 50 percent of the candidates will be new in the Johor state election this time. For the Negeri Sembilan state election, MIC has the opportunity to contest in two seats,” according to the source.
The Election Commission (EC) has set July 11 as polling day for the Johor state election with June 27 as nomination day and early voting on July 7.
For the Negeri Sembilan state election, the EC has set August 1 as polling day, July 18 as nomination day and early voting on July 28.
Earlier, regarding the MIC’s 80th Anniversary Celebration, Murugiah said MIC would be organising sports competitions in 152 areas across the country this Saturday.
He, who invited people from various races to participate in the sports competition, said that among the sports organised were football, badminton, bowling, carom and climbing.
— BERNAMA
