The Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (abbrev: KIMMA) is a political party in Malaysia which seeks to represent the interests of Muslim people of Indian descent in the country.

History

Formation

KIMMA was formed on 24 October 1976 to represent the interests of the minority Indian Muslim community in Malaysia, having split off from the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC). The majority of KIMMA members are Indian Muslim. KIMMA was deregistered in 1978 and 1998 before it was successfully re-registered.

Crises

The party has managed to re-register back again by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) after its registration was cancelled twice in 1978 and 1998. In 2008, KIMMA went through a leadership crisis when Amir Amsa Alla Pitchay, who had been dismissed by party president Syed Ibrahim B. Kader, claimed the presidency and suggested merging KIMMA with the People's Progressive Party (PPP), a Barisan Nasional (BN) component party. The party faced another crisis in 2009 when the validity of its 33rd Annual General Meeting was put into doubt over allegations of misconduct and the dismissal of the party's Federal Territory deputy secretary-general, Mohd Fazil William Abdullah.

Parliamentary representation

Party president Syed Ibrahim Kader was appointed senator in the country's upper house, the Dewan Negara, for two three-year terms, holding that position from 2011 to 2017.

2022 Malaysian general election

On 14 October 2022, four days after the dissolution of the 14th Parliament, party president Syed Ibrahim Kader revealed that BN leadership had agreed to nominate a candidate from the party to contest for a "safe" seat in the election, allowing them to make their election debut. He expressed his happiness that the party's loyalty to the coalition was recognised after 13 years as an UMNO associate member party and likened the seat as a "reward". KIMMA pledged to carry on supporting and working with UMNO through its Jalinan Rakyat (JR) machinery in the 2022 Johor state election. On 1 November 2022, BN Chairman and UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that Syed Ibrahim Kader would contest the Puchong federal seat, which he would eventually lose to the Pakatan Harapan candidate.

Political affiliation

KIMMA was a member of both Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) and Gagasan Rakyat (GR) opposition coalitions simultaneously from 1990 to 1996. The party had sought to join the then-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition since 1984 but faced opposition from the Malaysian Indian Congress. KIMMA continued to seek full membership in Barisan Nasional over the years before announcing it would no longer apply to do so in 2023 as a result of continued rejections. The party is considered a 'Friend of BN' and holds the status of associate member within the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), granting it observer status in all UMNO division meetings and its annual general meeting (AGM).

Leadership

General election results