PUTRAJAYA, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is expected to announce on Thursday the full list of "preferred" candidates for the party polls scheduled for next month.
MIC sources reveal that all the candidates have been asked to turn up at party headquarters at Jalan Rahmat at 2pm for the announcement.
MIC sources reveal that all the candidates have been asked to turn up at party headquarters at Jalan Rahmat at 2pm for the announcement.
To date Samy Vellu, who won the presidency for a record 11th term in March this year, has declared incumbent deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel as his preferred number two.
Palanivel has announced that he will defend his post while vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan and former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam have made public their intentions to contest the deputy presidency.
MIC, the largest Indian-based political party in the country, will hold elections to pick national leaders -- deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee (CWC) members -- on Sept 12.
The nomination for the election is on Saturday at the MIC headquarters. A total of 1,400 delegates would cast their ballots in the elections.
Samy Vellu has also to date named Human Resources Minister and secretary-general Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, Deputy Federal Territories Minister and information chief Datuk M. Saravanan and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and treasurer Datuk S.K. Devamany as his preferred candidates for the three vice-presidential seats.
Incumbent vice-presidents are Sothinathan and Datuk S. Veerasingham.
Veerasingham has announced his intention not to seek a re-election.
A third vice-president, Tan Sri K.S. Nijhar, resigned from the post following a tiff with Samy Vellu last year.
Samy Vellu, departing from tradition, is expected to name more preferred candidates to fill the 23 all-powerful CWC seats.
"He used to name just 23 candidates for the CWC but this time around it could be 23 plus six. This is to give more options to the delegates. There will be more names in the official list this time around," said the source, who declined to be named.
The CWC contest is expected to attract some 80 nominations.
Among the front runners are Puchong division chief A. Sakthivel and Klang division chief and prominent businessman R. Ragu Moorthy.
While Sakthivel, 42, is relatively a new face, he is touted by many as one of the young blood brought in by Samy Vellu to reinvigorate the party.
"He is not the only one... there are a few of them who are young and vibrant. Expect some surprises," said the source.
Ragu Moorthy, on the other hand, is one of the two leaders who were voted into the CWC in 2006 despite not being in the official list.
He has proven that he is an asset to the party through his contributions for the community, and thus the opportunity to contest under the preferred candidates banner.
Contacted by Bernama, both Sakthivel and Ragu Moorthy declined comment, saying that the president would make the announcement at an appropriate time.
Meanwhile, on another front, the run-up to the polls has sparked concerns over the spread of the culture of money politics in the party.
It is learnt that several of those wanting to contest will be hauled up to face the MIC disciplinary committee soon.
Samy Vellu himself, after meeting delegates of the Sepang division last night, declared that he would go all out against money politics and that "a few heads would roll" in the process.
It is learnt that divisions were offered thousands of ringgit in exchange for votes, and this has put candidates who were not economically well-off at a disadvantage.
Another problem encountered in this election is the use of caste to fish for votes.
"This is another issue that he (Samy Vellu) has to handle. He can't speak about this in the open as anything said would have an adverse effect on his candidates. He is preaching to them in a subtle manner to avoid caste politics and it seems to be working," said the source.
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