"Who is Ramis to say, who should stand and who should not?
"It's up to the delegates to nominate people whom they think are capable to lead the party.
"(Morover) Ramis is not qualified to make the suggestion as he had lost the chairmanship of his own branch.
"As such, he is not even eligible to get elected as a delegate for the party's general assembly which would eventually elect the deputy president," an irate Palanivel told Bernama today.
He was responding to a suggestion by Ramis that he (Palanivel) and former party deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam should not contest the deputy presidency, this time round.
Ramis, a lawyer and former state assemblyman from Johor, had instead suggested vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan, secretary-general Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam, who is also human resources minister, and deputy ministers Datuk S. K. Devamany and Datuk M. Saravanan to contest the post.
The MIC has just concluded the election of its president, where incumbent Datuk Seri S. Samy Velu was returned for the 11th three-year term as his only opponent, Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan, was disqualified because he could not garner the required nominations.
The party will now hold the elections for deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee members at its General Assembly in September.
Palanivel said democracy in a political party could not be developed by arranging successors or trying to elect leaders without contest.
However, while he fell short of announcing his intention to contest the No. 2 post, Bernama understands he was already busy laying the foundation to defend his post.
Meanwhile, party sources said that this time around, the contest would be very intense as the deputy would succeed the aging president who had indicated that this was his last term.
Ultimately, it would be Samy Vellu who would decide the winner because the delegates were on his side, the sources added.
-- BERNAMA
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The Undying Legend Of Samy Vellu
The senile Samy is, once again, the MIC president. To the party, time has almost stood still, and life remains very much the same after decades.
And to Samy, time is moving backward, back to the good old days.
Little wonder that the hair on Samy's head is getting thicker by the year, and is more luxuriant, darker and glossier than three decades ago.
Miracles of life have been worked in his physique.
His contemporaries have either withered or retired into obscurity.
Mahathir has moved behind the scene, and becomes a showy old man with a fair deal of grumbles to make every now and then. Abdullah is already drafting his retirement speech, although he is a lot younger than Samy.
Ling Liong Sik, the name is beginning to get strange to many people. Ong Ka Ting is perhaps just a young chap in the eyes of Samy.
These people used to be Samy's allies and comrades in BN.
Time is like a river that flushes them into history.
Except S Samy Vellu, who is attempting to distort the laws of time, go against the current, and fight against the time.
At the advanced age of 73, he is, as widely anticipated, re-elected the party president, unchallenged.
His opponent does not even have the opportunity to contest, as he was sent out of the race prematurely.
This position seems to have been tailor made just for Samy. MIC without Samy is like the Indian rice without the rich curry gravy.
But Samy seems to have forgotten that no one could ever challenge the time. MIC is no longer that same entity it once was. And the senile Samy is no longer who he used to be.
Samy and MIC may still live in the illusion of their glorious past as if nothing has changed.
They fail to see the emergence of Hindraf, or the fury and misery of their Indian compatriots.
They also can't hear the shouts of Makkal Sakthi, or the dissatisfaction and angry howling of their Indian compatriots.
They have even forgotten that MIC almost lost all their seats in the general elections, including Samy's bastion Sungai Siput.
Even the almighty UMNO needs to move with the times, and hoist the banner of reform.
Only MIC and Samy Vellu continue to bask in their stagnant glory. With Samy as the core, they have erected a solitary Taj Mahal.
Inside the fortress, Samy is the immortal being; but outside the fortress, he may be blasted to ashes.
Within the fortress, the legend continues, locking the realistic world out. (By TAY TIAN YAN/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)
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Malay Mail
UNLIKE other Barisan Nasional component parties, the Malaysian Indian Congress has re-elected president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for an 11th consecutive term, indicating either that members have chosen unanimously to rally behind the party’s embattled leadership or that the MIC strongmanstill possesses an iron grip, or both.
At best, however, Samy Vellu will have bought some time for his party to heal its divisions, determine a new course and reach out once again to constituents who have obviously become disenchanted with the party.
The MIC was almost completely routed in the March 8 general elections: it fielded 19 candidates for the State assemblies but won only seven, and of its nine candidates for Parliament, six lost their seats, including two vice-presidents, the heads of the Youth and Women’s wings and, most embarrassing of all, Samy Vellu himself.
Based on its current numbers, the MIC cannot claim third place in the Barisan pecking order — in terms of Parliamentary seats it is outranked by five Sabah- and Sarawak-based parties, and while the MIC has two junior Ministers, these other parties have staked claims to Cabinet positions that will likely be obliged at the next reshuffle.
Analysts have attributed the MIC’s dismal performance to disaffection rooted deeply in poverty: The growing income gap affects not only Malaysian Indians vis-à-vis other communities, but also
within the community itself, and these divisions have taken their toll through the growing tendency towards racial stereotyping and discrimination against Indians, especially Indian youths.
This disaffection has also fuelled the massive blue collar protest that was the Hindraf rally and it is telling that, unlike other public demonstrations, the Hindraf movement received little mainstream political attention until after the issues it raised went wildly out of control.
It is also very telling that ethnic Indian politicians on either side of the political divide are given less attention for putting forward arguments that concern Malaysians as a whole than they get for championing the specific interests of the Indian community.
For this reason it often appears as if the media is far more aware than politicians that the Indian community has, by and large, been left behind by policy and economic development; and as long as a single ethnic community remains in this State none of us can achieve the greater goals of national
unity.
Samy Vellu has gained himself precious time to address these issues, but the pressure has been mounting and constituents, perhaps unfairly, will expect near instant results.
Many expect the Bukit Selambau State by-election on April 7 to be part of a wider “referendum” on both the Barisan and the Pakatan Rakyat, but for the MIC a victory is critical for its claims to seniority in the government coalition, and perhaps for its very survival.
But even if it were to win, Samy Vellu will only have bought a little more time in which to undertake massive reforms to his party’s approach to the rapidly changing demands of coalition politics; and in order for him to succeed he must continue to champion Indian interests in an environment that is becoming increasingly hostile towards outward displays of ethnic communalism.
The future of the MIC, and thus political representation of the Indian community in government, now hangs in the balance, and Samy Vellu remains the single fixed point around which Malaysian
Indian politics must revolve.
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