By Baradan Kuppusamy - The Malaysian Insider
Vice-president contest front runner Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam (centre) campaigning outside a Chinese restaurant in Mentakap, Pahang. — Picture by Baradan Kuppusamy
Money, patronage and other incentives are being offered by many candidates with the amount and the quality varying.
Some delegates are not complaining, and are eagerly seeking out what is coyly referred to as nankodai or donations while others express shock at how “money politics” has spread in the party.
According to MIC insiders the going rate for a delegate is RM1,000 plus other incentives thrown in like expensive sarees, dhotis, and trips to Haadyai, Thailand across the Bukit Kayu Hitam border.
Some delegates are also demanding candidates settle their private problems like car and house instalments, top up their mobile phone accounts or “donate” hand phones.
“I feel sad about all this,” said delegate KP Samy from Klang, who is contesting for one of the 23 posts in the party’s Central Working Committee.
“I hope delegates will remain focussed on the issues and elect capable candidates and not sell their votes to the highest bidder.”
Unscrupulous MIC members have also joined the bandwagon claiming to be able to “influence” the delegates to vote for certain candidates and they often “bargain” with high-powered candidates for a “lump sum” settlement to deliver the votes.
In comparison to the backstage deals, the official campaign by party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu is a tame affair and the highlight is a high-powered, multi-course Chinese dinner.
The attachment to posh Chinese restaurants is already causing some delegates to grow “sick” of Chinese food.
The Malaysian Insider was allowed into a posh Chinese restaurant in Penang on Sunday, to observe the official campaign which started with a speech by Samy Vellu explaining why he was supporting the candidates.
His reasons are always the same — he needs young, dynamic and capable leaders to help him run the MIC and represent the Indian community except that few of the candidates he has chosen fit that category of “young and dynamic.”
After the short speech, all the candidates are called up on the stage and paraded to the delegates. They don’t say a word and immediately return to their seats with dinner commencing immediately.
The dinner is only for official candidates and the rest of the contestants are barred from entering the hall, but they still come and campaign outside with their name cards and leaflets.
Candidates lining up the stairs of a Chinese restaurant in Yong Peng, Johor, to campaign as delegates walk up for a sumptuous dinner. — Picture by Baradan Kuppusamy
“Indian food is heavy on the stomach and uncomfortable when on the go,” said a Pahang leader adding that few Indian restaurants could accommodate 500 or more people.
“That’s why Chinese restaurants are preferred during MIC campaigns.”
“Besides, few hotels serve Indian food in the way Chinese food is served,” he said, adding that there are some delegates who are vegetarian while others don’t like Chinese dishes.
“They are very Indian and often complain,” he said.
The focus of the election is on the three-cornered deputy president contest between incumbent Datuk G. Palanivel, former deputy Datuk S. Subramaniam and incumbent vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan.
The battle is fierce with new comer Sothinathan, only 49, and a former Samy Vellu blue-eyed boy making inroads into Samy Vellu’s vote bank that Palanivel is relying on to defeat Subramaniam.
Party insiders said the more votes Sothinathan — who is campaigning house to house — gets, the better the chances of Subramaniam edging Palanivel out.
“Both Palanivel and Sothinathan are fighting for the same vote bank while Subramaniam’s support in the MIC has remained intact as it had for the last 30 years,” a veteran MIC leader said.
He said based on the 2006 results Subramaniam has the support of about one-third of the 1,500 delegates while Samy Vellu had the remaining two-third in his grip.
However with Sothinathan in the fray, Samy Vellu’s vote bank is divided between backing the newcomer, who is well known and even admired, or backing Palanivel as they had in 2006.
This time, too, there are other new strands in the election.
One is that Samy Vellu, who lost his Sungei Siput seat in the 2008 general election, is unwanted by the Barisan Nasional and on his way out.
His decisions are no longer accepted without question in the MIC and noticeably key grassroots leaders shy away from him at public functions seeing proximity with him as a handicap.
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