NST Editorial, March 24 2009
BY retaining the presidency of MIC without a fight for the 11th consecutive term on Sunday, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has become the longest-serving leader in Barisan Nasional. While nobody sensible was betting on anything other than Samy Vellu's re-election, this record-breaking feat is, nevertheless, a noteworthy achievement. However, it is clear that all is not well in this victory. As much as the MIC president wants to cut the impression that he is still strong, the reality is that the leadership question stands paramount among the host of unresolved issues facing the MIC. Political longevity is not necessarily a reflection of popular acclaim, as the accusations of dirty tricks from Samy Vellu's detractors make clear. Neither is it much of an asset when it becomes the subject of taunts from the opposition and a source of worry for its coalition partners, who fear it could undermine their own electoral chances.
BY retaining the presidency of MIC without a fight for the 11th consecutive term on Sunday, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has become the longest-serving leader in Barisan Nasional. While nobody sensible was betting on anything other than Samy Vellu's re-election, this record-breaking feat is, nevertheless, a noteworthy achievement. However, it is clear that all is not well in this victory. As much as the MIC president wants to cut the impression that he is still strong, the reality is that the leadership question stands paramount among the host of unresolved issues facing the MIC. Political longevity is not necessarily a reflection of popular acclaim, as the accusations of dirty tricks from Samy Vellu's detractors make clear. Neither is it much of an asset when it becomes the subject of taunts from the opposition and a source of worry for its coalition partners, who fear it could undermine their own electoral chances.
While Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan's contention that the MIC faces a "bleak" future and has become "irrelevant" can be dismissed as the sniping of a sore loser, there is, nevertheless, more than a ring of truth to it. Many others have been penning the MIC's obituary since its rejection by the Indian community as their spokesman and protector at the last polls -- and the added indignity of having its own leader defeated in his own seat. Accused of having failed to defend the interests of a disaffected and disenchanted Indian community, and of being too accommodating, malleable and quiescent, the MIC seems incapable of doing anything right by its detractors. The recent controversies and scandals in which its leaders have been mired, and the internal squabbles over the contest for the top post, have done little to patch the party's tattered credibility.
While Samy Vellu has intimated that he will make room for a "younger leader at the right time", not having a clear road map and timeline for succession does not inspire confidence that there will be room in the party for young blood and fresh ideas. At a time when its partners in Barisan Nasional have been going through agonising appraisals of where they went wrong and doing what they can to transform themselves, the right time for MIC's rejuvenation is now rather than later. With a new leadership already in command of the MCA and with Umno soon to have a new president, the very fact that the old hand at MIC's helm is not prepared to let go speaks volumes about his unwillingness to read the writing on the wall.
While Samy Vellu has intimated that he will make room for a "younger leader at the right time", not having a clear road map and timeline for succession does not inspire confidence that there will be room in the party for young blood and fresh ideas. At a time when its partners in Barisan Nasional have been going through agonising appraisals of where they went wrong and doing what they can to transform themselves, the right time for MIC's rejuvenation is now rather than later. With a new leadership already in command of the MCA and with Umno soon to have a new president, the very fact that the old hand at MIC's helm is not prepared to let go speaks volumes about his unwillingness to read the writing on the wall.
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