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MIC to meet
Najib over
cabinet posts
ALOR GAJAH: MIC will meet Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak
to seek a bigger representation in the
cabinet. It now has one minister and two
deputy ministers in the cabinet.
Party secretary-general Datuk Dr S.
Subramaniam, who is human resource
minister, said the MIC should have been
given greater representation in the cabinet
so as to play a bigger and more active role
in all sectors to serve the expectations and
aspirations of the Indian community.
“MIC is a little disappointed when the
cabinet was announced recently with MCA
getting an additional deputy minister’s
post and Gerakan given a minister’s post
but nothing additional for MIC,” he said at
Bandar Vendor Taboh Naning yesterday.
The cabinet announced by Najib on
Thursday saw no changes in the portfolio
of the MIC representation with Subrama-
niam remaining as the human resource
minister, Datuk M. Saravanan (deputy
minister of Federal Territories) and Datuk
K. Devamany (deputy minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department).
The MIC need more opportunities to
strengthen the party and remain relevant,
Subramaniam said. “If we are given
more opportunities to play a more active
role in all sectors, it will help the Indian
community to progress further,” he said.
He added that being a Barisan Nasional
(BN) component party, MIC should also
be represented in other decision-mak-
ing bodies, government agencies and
government-linked companies.
In response to reports about the MIC’s
unhappiness, Deputy Prime Minister Tan
Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said BN component
leaders who had any complaints should
see the prime minister, and that such
matters should not be discussed openly.
He said they should respect the pre-
rogative of the prime minister to appoint
ministers, and this was nothing new.
“We should give the chosen ministers
the chance to shoulder the responsibility;
after all they had already taken their oath
of office,” he said yesterday when handing
over his duty as international trade and
industry minister to the new minister.
(full report see page 2).
Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations (Malaysia)
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Tuesday
April 14, 2009
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» Traditions & conventions pg12 » Gerrard back for mission impossible pg31 Sports
Red shirts vs army
» THAI TROOPS FIRE WARNING SHOTS AS PROTESTERS
DEFY EMERGENCY » TWO KILLED AND 90 INJURED
He denied Thaksin’s claim that authorities
were covering up protest deaths.
An army spokesman meanwhile said that
while live rounds were fired overhead to
“terrify” protesters, only blanks were used in
B
ANGKOK: Troops unleashed volleys of ment House, the office of Prime Minister Abhisit close-range encounters.
gunfire in street battles with anti-govern- Vejjajiva, a day after the embattled premier Residents near Government House have
ment protesters across Bangkok yesterday, imposed a state of emergency in the capital. armed themselves and set up roadblocks, and
forcing them back to their main rallying Still reeling after the supporters of ousted government and hospital sources said a 54-year-
site in a final push to end days of turmoil. premier Thaksin Shinawatra forced the cancel- old resident and a 19-year-old man had been
Two men were killed and 90 were injured lation of a major Asian summit at the weekend, shot and killed in clashes with demonstrators.
in a day of violence, as troops lobbed tear gas Abhisit warned the protesters should disperse A spokesman for Bangkok’s main emer-
at demonstrators who sent buses hurtling or face the consequences. gency service said that 90 people were hurt in
towards lines of soldiers and torched a govern- “Those who want to help the government the battles between demonstrators and soldiers.
ment ministry with blazing Molotov cocktails. restore normality can return home,” Abhisit Abhisit said 23 troops were among the injured.
The red-shirted protesters later retreated to said in a televised address. “The government Thailand has been mired in turmoil since
their camp around Govern- has carefully mapped out a plan to implement the military toppled Thaksin in a coup in 2006,
the law.” but the unrest confronts British-born Abhisit
with his biggest challenge since he took
ORIENTAL DAILYPIX office in December.
The so-called “Red Shirts” want him
to quit and call fresh elections, saying he
came to power through an undemocratic
parliamentary vote following a court ruling
that drove Thaksin’s allies from power.
Troops began the crackdown just before
dawn, firing hundreds of rounds into the air
after protesters blocking a major intersection
pelted them with rocks and petrol bombs.
Further clashes erupted in the same area
throughout the day, with protesters rigging
up buses that were directed at phalanxes of
soldiers, who responded with long bursts of
overhead shots.
As night fell, troops began to encircle the
protesters inside an area of several blocks but
as they retreated the mob threw several petrol
bombs into a building in Thailand’s education
ministry complex, setting it ablaze.
Thaksin, who is living in exile to avoid a
jail term for corruption, appealed for peace in
an interview with CNN despite issuing calls for
“revolution” in previous speeches to support-
ers. “I would like to urge everybody to come
together peacefully, not just by force.” - AFP
» Report Page 5
Fatal bus crash ... Fire and rescue and police personnel at the scene of a fatal
» Deep divisions fuel the crisis
express bus accident near Rawang yesterday morning. Six people, including the lead driver who – Pages 8 & 9
was taking a rest while the co-driver took the wheel, were killed when the double-decker vehicle
crashed into a railing and landed on its side. The metal railing pierced the side of the bus, causing » Tourism sector under assault
massive injuries to the victims who were seated on the lower deck. – Page 15