IPF prepared to remain a 'UMNO coolie'

KUALA LUMPUR - The Indian Progressive Front (IPF) has pledged its support to the government even though it had yet to be accepted as one of Barisan Nasional's (BN) component parties and is being labelled as BN coolie by the opposition.

IPF president Jayashree Pandithan said the party's pledge of support to the government was not made for fun, but was prompted by the commitment shown by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to uplift the status of the Indian community in the country.

"Though the opposition parties have labelled us as BN Gurkha or coolie and said that we will never be part of the coalition, we will wait patiently until our application to join BN is finally accepted.

Will submit application again

"In fact, we will submit another application to join the BN soon and we are confident that the BN leadership will give it a fair consideration," she told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the party's 17th general assembly here Sunday.

When asked whether IPF, which has 300,000 members nationwide, would join the opposition pact if the application was rejected by BN, Jayashree said such an idea had never crossed their minds as they would continue supporting BN.

"We are a strong supporter of BN. No doubt about that because (the late) Tan Sri MG Pandithan (IPF founder and former president) had supported BN and we will follow in his footstep.

"There is no question of going to any other party or the opposition pact. We are loyal supporters of the BN," she added.

Bernama
28/09/09

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