Makkhal Sakthi is independent, says Thanenthiran

By Baradan Kuppusamy - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — A breakaway Hindraf faction, headed by former national co-ordinator R.S.Thanenthiran, will not be allied with either the Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional.

Thanenthiran explains at a press conference Makkal Sakthi’s party structure. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

Thanenthiran said the Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP) is independent. “We will work with any coalition or political party that helps us achieve our aspiration which is to help downtrodden Indians,” he told a packed press conference at a Petaling Jaya hotel.

Registration for the party was obtained on May 11, three months after application, and Thanenthiran defended the speedy government approval by saying they had been monitoring the individuals involved in the formation of the party and had no objections to its formation.

Thanenthiran is protem president while A. Waythamoorthy, the Hindraf Perak co-ordinator, is deputy president. Kannan Ramasamy, another well-known Hindraf co-ordinator, is secretary general.

Other posts will be filled later, Thanenthiran said. He added that the party structure would be similar to other Malaysian political parties with a central leadership, a supreme council and state divisions.

Noticeably missing at the launch today were the five Hindraf leaders who were recently released from ISA detention including Hindraf founder P. Uthayakumar who did not agree to the formation of a political party under the Makkal Sakthi symbol.

Kota Alam Shah Assemblyman and Hindraf legal adviser M. Manoharan is a DAP member while the rest are said to have quit active politics.

It is unclear how much support the new party can garner under the Makkal Sakti banner because the acknowledged leader of the movement, lawyer Uthayakumar, is not participating in the new venture.

Registration of Makkal Sakthi was approved about a week ago.

“I have my own plans,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted today. “We have to wait and see what my masterplan will be. There has been nothing like it in the past 50 years.”

In the meantime, the new party’s priorities include assistance for Tamil schools and temples and raising people’s income levels and resolving religious conversion issues speedily. There will also be a massive recruitment drive to get 300,000 members within a year.

Also present at the launch were former DAP candidate for Kuala Kubu Baru Ramu Annamalai Kandasamy, prominent Klang businessman and Tamil school benefactor Oms Tiagarajan and former MIC Sungei Siput division chairman E. Loganathan.

Both Oms and Loganathan are patrons of the new party while the status of Ramu is unclear as he declined to comment.