SUNGAI PETANI, FRI:

MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu today expressed sadness over the move by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to quit Umno.

"I am saddened. Would it not be good if Dr Mahathir and (Prime Minister Datuk Seri) Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi) could reconcile for the sake of national development?” he told reporters after opening the Kedah MIC annual general meeting, here.

Dr Mahathir announced on Monday he was quitting Umno because he had lost confidence in the leadership of Abdullah and that he would only rejoin the party after Abdullah steps down as Umno president and prime minister.

The announcement had come following two years of criticism hurled at the Abdullah administration by Dr Mahathir.

Samy Vellu said, however, that the MIC supported Abdullah as the prime minister and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman.