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SHAH ALAM - Senator Datuk Sivaraj Chandran implores the Unity Government to start acknowledging Indian voters as the deciding bloc in elections and begin to realize the agenda for Indian communities.
This is to ensure they continue to support the current government in the future.
In a posting made on his Facebook page, Sivaraj states that this issue requires undivided attention from the government as they have been a worrisome trend in Indian voters' support towards Pakatan Harapan (PH).
"According to experts, the pattern of support from the Indian community towards PH has decreased by 15 percent, while it has increased by 21 percent towards Perikatan Nasional (PN)," he said.
He opined that the recent incident involving Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim responding to a question regarding educational placements in matriculation by a matriculation student has had a significant impact on the confidence of the Indian community in this recent state elections.
"The answer given by the Prime Minister seems like the Indian communities support has been taken lightly.
"It clearly did not at all reflect the commitment of the Unity Government in assisting the Indian community," he said.
The senator pointed out that with the rising significance of the Indian voters' role as the deciding bloc, it is high time the government tackles the promises and manifestos made toward the Indian community seriously.
He suggested the government start addressing pressing issues in the community such as educational placements in public universities, support for small-scale Indian entrepreneurs, and the empowerment of the Indian community as a whole.
"All these should be addressed and translated into the form of policies by the government.
"These aren't complex issues that require billions of ringgit to be executed but are simply basic issues that require a roadmap from our leaders," he said.
Sivaraj added that he is confident the support from Indians will not continue to gravitate toward PN, even so, the current government should not continue to disregard the Indian agenda here in Malaysia.
The statement by the Prime Minister acknowledging Indians as the poorest community in West Malaysia should be used as a stepping stone in initiating policies and guidelines to address the issues amongst the Indian community
"This will simultaneously empower our status and instill the confidence of the Indian people toward the Unity Government," he said.
