PRESSURE: Subramaniam (centre) at the MIC general assembly on Saturday
Sources said more charges could be piled against Subramaniam as “complaints are mounting”.
It was believed that the committee has five “open-shut” cases that would lead to the 65-year-old veteran politician’s expulsion from the party.
The alleged five acts by Subramaniam that tarnished the party’s image were:
• confirming the confession of stolen votes by former vice-president Datuk V. Govindaraj in the election for deputy president in 1977, first reported by Malay Mail;
• asking his newspaper, Makkal Osai, to publish lies aimed at undermining the credibility of the MIC;
• seeking outside help to achieve his aim of winning the post;
• practising money politics. (While Subramaniam has claimed that his defeat was due to money politics, Samy Vellu said he too could prove that he (Subramaniam) had used money to gain support); and
• bringing in more than 500 youths, described by Samy Vellu as gangsters, to disrupt the party’s 63rd general assembly on Saturday.
It was also believed that Subramaniam can expect a showcause letter “very soon as the leadership do not want his shadow cast over the party as there are lots of things to address”.
Asked if Subramaniam would quit the party rather than face the charges, a party member said: “I have known him for a long time and I don’t think he will run away.
“Rather than be a coward, he will see an expulsion as an advantage to his political career. The close outcome of the results shows he still commands considerable support in the party and being the fighter he is, he will fight to the end.”
Meanwhile, Subramaniam’s supporters have refuted allegations of 500 youths being brought to PWTC to frighten the delegates into voting for him.
They said there were only about 100 youths and they were all outside the hall. They wore red T-shirts with a picture of Subramaniam with the words “Change for the Better”.
“They were not unruly and the only time they yelled in unison was when they shouted ‘Hidup BN, hidup BN’ on the arrival of Datuk Seri Najib (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak),” a supporter said.
On why the youths had to be present, he said: “Since they brought in their people, we also had to show we have people.”
Samy Vellu claimed yesterday that some of the youths entered the hall when the voting was in progress and that “we had a tough time getting them out of the hall”.
He said he had never seen such an incident during the MIC general assembly. The party has details of the youths and has informed the relevant authorities.
Subra weighs his options
SUPPORTERS of Datuk S. Subramaniam have described the MIC as an “exclusive club” where they do not have a place any longer. “We don’t think we will be welcome to this ‘exclusive club’ and we will be heart broken to leave the MIC,” said Bandar Bukit Sentosa MIC branch chairman N.Gopal Krishnan.
He said many of Subramaniam’s supporters were huddled in discussion over the weekend to weigh his options as well as theirs, he said.
Some, he said, would like to stay on and fight another day while others felt the current MIC would not be accepted by the rakyat.
“It’s a difficult decision because the party would most likely expel Subramaniam for alleged misconduct,” he said.
Several supporters who spoke with Malay Mail echoed similar views. They asked that their names not
be mentioned because they have “unfinished business” and will also face the disciplinary board if they spoke up against the leadership.
Subramaniam, 65, has asked his supporters not to say or do anything rash. His aides said he knows that he
wields a strong influence in the party and has refused to be drawn into discussing his next move.
Subramaniam’s support in the MIC has reportedly been up to 50% of the total number of party delegates in the MIC at any one time, Gopal Krishnan said.
Gopal said anti Samy Vellu sentiments were regrettably split, causing Subramaniam to bear the brunt of a defeat “in a battle that was actually between Samy Vellu and Subramaniam”.
He analysed that 629 votes polled by deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel was pro-Samy Vellu while the combined anti-Samy Vellu votes was 827.
Gopal noted that the 547 votes received by Subramaniam and the 280 votes that the second challenger Datuk S. Sothinathan garnered “are actually a defeat for Samy Vellu.”
Some of the supporters speculated that Subramaniam might helm one of the new Indian parties, notably Makkal Sakti.
“If Subra leaves the MIC he has no problems of having to please campaign financiers who are dependent on government munificence.
“There was no such thing in Subra’s campaign. Those who helped financially did so voluntarily and do not expect anything. They did it to serve the community,” said a close aide of Subramaniam.
The aide said Subramaniam, who is Seputeh division chairman, had always been uncomfortable with the opposition, and as such “Pakatan Rakyat is out of the question.”
He said Subramaniam, who appears to be enjoying an increased respect in the MIC and with a wider segment of the Indian community despite the defeat “has a huge decision to make.”
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Vote analysis shows dissent
Chandran: Actually the results show delegates are losing confidence in the president
“If you analyse the party election results carefully you will see that the 1,456 delegates have not all supported the president’s choice for the number two post,” said V.S. Chandran, the former Hulu Selangor division chief and one time close associate of party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.
He said more than half the delegates voted for the two candidates the president had campaigned against.
“If you add the number of votes for Datuk S. Subramaniam (547) and Datuk S, Sothinathan (280), they in total command 827 votes while the president’s choice, Datuk G. Palanivel only received 629 votes,” he said.
“You can read it many ways but the results signify that more than half the delegates are not supportive of Samy Vellu,” he said, adding it indicated that the members were not 100 per cent behind the president.
Besides, he said, it was the first time that five state leaders, who are all Samy Vellu supporters failed to retain their CWC posts. They are from Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Kedah, Penang and Malacca. “Although all the president’s men won most of the posts, the results show there is growing dissent among party members,”
he said, adding that if the 100 votes from Putri, Putra, youth and women delegates that went to Palanivel were not taken into account the latter would have lost to Subramaniam.
He said, it was nonsensical for Samy Vellu to say that the Indian community and the MIC members were against the BN which was the reason for MIC’s poor showing the last general election.
“If Samy Vellu was popular among the community he should have won his Sungai Siput parliamentary seat against a relative unknown,” Chandran said, adding that if Samy Vellu continued to lead the party into the next general election, BN would lose more seats.
Speaking to the Press on Saturday after the delegates had cast their votes, Samy Vellu indirectly accused Umno, the leader of the BN coalition of neglecting the Indian community which resulted in the failure of MIC to deliver the votes during the last general election.
“Many are blaming (me), saying people are fed up with me but they are fed up with BN, not me. I can directly say this because I am not afraid of anybody.”
He also lashed out at former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for saying that he (Samy Vellu) didn’t do anything for the Indians and added that he had fought hard for the community but nothing much materialised over the years.
He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, saying his reform initiatives for the community were “a bit too late”.
ALL EARS: Delegates listening to the president’s winding up speech at Putra World Trade Centre yesterday
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Palanivel’s first big task
His task will be to plan strategies to rally Indian support and deliver the 20 per cent Indian votes in the 14,192-voter constituency to the Barisan Nasional. Palanivel will have a daunting task ahead as he has to prove that he is the right man to convince the Indian voters to vote BN.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, in talking up BN’s chances of retaining the Bagan Pinang State seat yesterday, said it was an Umno stronghold that the party would defend vigorously.
The MIC will want to prove that the Indian community, under the leadership of Samy Vellu and his new team, can deliver the Indian votes.
“Palanivel cannot take it easy here as it will test his qualities as party leader to the fullest,” said Indian political analyst Dr Patrick Seevendra.
However, Dr Seevendra doubts Palanivel can rise to the occasion in such a short time because “he has been in
the shadow of Samy Vellu all this while”.
He sees Samy Vellu campaigning vigorously in Bagan Pinang although certain quarters feel his presence could be a disadvantage.
Samy Vellu has pledged that the MIC, as the biggest Indian-based party in the country, would take concrete
steps to regain the support of the community.
He said that the party, which has 630,000 members, would also continue with the efforts to restore the community’s support for the BN.
“We have started the process since the last general election. Through the various steps taken by the MIC, the Indians are returning to the BN. This process will continue,” he said when closing the general assembly yesterday.
The racial breakdown of the constituency is Malays (66.6 per cent), Indians (19.9 per cent), Chinese (10.5 per cent) and others (3.5 per cent). Bagan Pinang is the ninth by-election since Election 2008. The three-party alliance of Pakatan Rakyat has won seven of the eight previous contests.
The Bagan Pinang seat fell vacant following the death o f assemblyman Azman Mohammad Noor of BN on Sept 4. Azman, a first-term representative had garnered 6,430 votes over his Pas rival Ramli Ismail’s 4,037, earning
him a 2,333 win.
The Election Commission will meet today to determine the dates for nominations and polling. Bagan Pinang seat is one of five State seats under the Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency.
Two are held by Umno, two by PKR and one by DAP. Teluk Kemang is represented by PKR’s Datuk Kamarul Baharin Abbas who defeated MIC deputy president candidate Datuk S. Sothinathan by 2,804 votes. Sothinathan had won with a 17,777 vote majority in 2004.
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Jaspal refutes appointment as pleasing the Sikhs
“It was a big surprise to me,” Jaspal told Malay Mail last night.
“I had little expectations when I stood in the party elections.”
Together with Datuk J. Randhir Singh, they were the only Sikh representatives who vied for places in the Central Working Committee (CWC), and won.
Jaspal however refused to attribute his appointment as the party’s strategy to please the Sikh community by allocating a spot in the committee for at least one Sikh representative.
“I don’t see it that way,” said Jaspal.
“I believe the president appointed the committee members based on their credentials and whether they are able to carry out tasks assigned to them. I’m chosen for this post because the president trusts my ability.
“It doesn’ t matter whether you are a Sikh or a Telugu. What ’s important is whether you can do the job for your party.”
The Kedah born 47-year-old is currently heading the new MIC headquarters project that is under construction
in Bandar Utama. Jaspal also said that his appointment as treasurer general would make it easier for him to deal with the project, in terms of looking for funds and financial support.
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NST,
Sothi blames it on money politics, smear campaign
2009/09/14
KUALA LUMPUR: Former MIC vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan said he is disappointed that his attempt to secure the party's No. 2 position has failed.
The former deputy natural resources and environment minister said he did not expect to lose since he detected strong desire from party members and delegates for change.
"So, I am puzzled with the voting trend of the delegates."
Sothinathan said he also expected Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's speech, which saw him being given standing ovations several times, to influence the delegates to vote for change.
"I expected the tide to turn especially after the speech by the prime minister.
"This, however, was not translated into the necessary votes," he said in in a telephone interview yesterday.
He blamed his loss on money politics and a smear campaign.
"Even on the last day, there was a campaign against me," he added.
In the vote for the deputy presidency, Datuk G. Palanivel won with a reduced majority.
The incumbent deputy president garnered 629 votes, warding off a spirited challenge from former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam, who received 547 votes, and Datuk S. Sothinathan, who got 280 votes.
There were four spoilt votes.
Palanivel's majority in the elections in 2006 was 495 votes.
Sothinathan said he would not rush into doing anything following his loss.
"I will need to think carefully before I make a decision."
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