I refer to the Malaysiakini report Will Mike make good on his threat?

The member of Parliament of Kapar should not only quit his PKR post but should also relinquish his parliament seat. His antics and threats to the PKR party are a disgrace and such behaviour should not even be tolerated by the party hierarchy.

For one man to hold the party to ransom is a sad reflection of the poor management of the party. If he does not quit the party then he should be sacked. We don’t need MPs who constantly issue threats in order to get their way.

This member of Parliament must be taught a lesson in that he did not win the election on the basis of his personality. He won the seat because people wanted a change.

If PKR had put anyone else in his place, they would also would have won with a handsome majority. Manikavasagam should not be imbued with his own pride that he won the seat on his own ability.

It’s about time that Manikavasagam and many of his Indian colleagues who have been too concerned about their self-importance re-examine their contribution to the March 8 election. In all the seats that they contested, they could not have won a single seat without the support of the Chinese and Malay voters.

The Indian vote alone could not have elected them as members of parliament. That reality should be evident to the most optimistic candidate and it would do a lot of justice if Manikavasagam realises this equation.

It was not the Indian voters that put him there and if he were to be arrogant in saying that they will form an independent party for the Indian PKR MPs, then it is likely that all of them will only serve one term as parliamentarians.

For 50 years, the MIC represented the Indian community and all they have to show is one minister and a few parliamentary secretaries in the government to represent them. When the opposition won in Penang and Perak, a deputy chief minister’s post was given to an Indian and in the Perak legislature, the speaker’s post was similarly allocated to an Indian.

All this was accomplished in a space of few weeks after the March 8 election which put the opposition in power in the two states.

Manikavasagam should realise that these are giants strides for the Indian community and if he is still bent on biting the hand that feeds him, I suggest he should step down and let there be a by-election for the people to decide who should represent them.

This time, if Manikavasagam does not resign from the party then the leadership should just sack him. The party would be better off without him in the long run.

After this latest episode, I doubt the voters in his constituency would ever elect him again.There will not be any solidarity in Pakatan Rakyat if such maverick politicians are constantly allowed to threaten the party leadership.