The initial plan was that whoever was elected deputy president after the MIC elections on Sept 12, would take over the president's post from Samy Vellu before the expiry of his term in mid-2012.
This led to a "mad scramble" as one divisional leader put it, for the number two post between incumbent Datuk G. Palanivel, former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam and incumbent vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan.
In an interview with TV3 tonight, Samy Vellu confirmed that he had decided to complete his full-term as party president.
"I have decided to complete my term of office since I was elected for a three-year term," he said.
Samy Vellu was elected unopposed last March 22, when the lone rival, Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan, failed to secure enough nominations to take on the veteran leader.
Earlier news reports indicated that Samy Vellu would relinquish his post somewhere between Sept 12 and 2012, but due to the intense power tussle for the deputy president's post, Samy Vellu has decided to remain at the helm till the end of his term.
There have also been reports of candidates indulging in money and caste politics to woo the delegates, causing several factions to be formed, which many leaders felt could break up the party.
Such a scenario was reminiscent during the MIC's previous leadership in the 1970s which led to the party almost on the verge of destruction.
Samy Vellu acknowledged that supporters of "some" of the aspiring candidates for the deputy president's post "crossed the line" by indulging in money and caste politics.
He feared that such actions could smear the image of the MIC and eventually cause its destruction.
Samy Vellu has endorsed Palanivel for the post of deputy president.
-- BERNAMA
themalaysianinsider.com
Samy Vellu wants to stay till 2015
By Baradan Kuppusamy
No retirement in sight for Samy Vellu, who is looking to stay till at least 2015. – Picture by Jack Ooi
In March Samy Vellu was “elected” unopposed as party president for a three-year term which expires in 2012, after his sole challenger Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan was disqualified because he did not have the required nominations.
His decision to stay on until 2015 is also well past the due date of next general election which must be called by 2013 but is expected much earlier
The 2015 time frame indicates Samy Vellu wants to re-contest in the Sungei Siput parliamentary constituency, which he had held since 1974 but lost to Parti Sosialis Malaysia leader Dr M. Jeyakumar last March.
“He wants to stay, win back Sungei Siput and retire in a blaze of glory,” said an MIC leader who attended the Sepang MIC meeting on Monday where Samy Vellu declared he would stay on
His declaration was front paged by the Makkal Osai Tamil daily today.
“We are all shocked by the declaration. He has the MIC in his grip and nobody dares challenge him. If he wants to stay then he stays…who can stop him?” the MIC leader said.
“The party leadership is in the grip of the Yes-men…the rest of us are all spectators,” the MIC leader said.
At the function to open the new Sepang MIC building, MIC sources said, Samy Vellu also lashed out at money politics and how certain leaders were simply buying up votes for as much as RM1,000 a delegate.
He did not name any person but it is no secret that some of the candidates contesting for the various posts are either multi-millionaires themselves or having the backing of millionaires.
Non-stop dinners at posh restaurants are the order of the day with cash in envelopes, air tickets and other “presents” thrown in to sweeten the high-end food.
Cash-poor contestants often wait outside these restaurants and meeting places to give leaflets to departing delegates.
Their main platform is reform but no one has yet spelled out what action they would take largely for fear Samy Vellu might come down hard on them.
One vice-presidential candidate was even issued with a show-cause letter for publicly saying the MIC needs “more wise men, not Yes-men.”
Samy Vellu also told the meeting he would double the MIC’s 3,000 branches to 6,000 over the next few years and warned branch leaders against getting carried away.
Tomorrow Samy Vellu is making public his “preferred” list of candidates for all posts, which MIC officials say would be a mixture of old and new faces.
All other contestants, and there are many this time, would be pitting themselves against the “preferred” candidates.
An anti-Samy Vellu movement is gathering force in the MIC and if it holds until polling on September 12, many of his candidates are going to crash.
Saturday is nomination day and all camps are mustering their supporters to rally for a big show.
No comments:
Post a Comment