KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Muhammad Sabtu Osman has warned of stern action against trouble-makers at the MIC annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow.
He said the police had received reports that certain groups of people would create a commotion at the two-day meeting where party polls would be held.
"Those going in and out will be screened thoroughly by the police...we take this matter seriously," he told reporters after launching the Hari Raya crime prevention programme at the Jusco Taman Maluri Shopping Centre in Cheras here Friday.
"For those of you who think that you are big gangsters, please don't be big-headed and presume we will not take any action against you," he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will open the AGM.
-- BERNAMA
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MIC Polls Result Expected From 6pm
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- The first results of the closely- watched MIC polls tomorrow are expected at 6pm, beginning with the outcome of the tussle for the central working committee (CWC), election committee chairman Datuk K. Vijayanathan said on Friday.
The winners of the 23 CWC seats would be announced first, followed by that of the three vice-presidents and deputy president, he said.
Vijayanathan, who heads a six-member committee, urged delegates to be calm and restrained and to vote without fear.
"The election committee assures delegates and members that it will be very transparent and fair. Nothing to be worried about. I expect a smooth election," he told Bernama.
The battle for the deputy president's post contested by incumbent Datuk G. Palanivel, former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam and Datuk S. Sothinathan is the climax of the election.
Palanivel is backed by president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu who was returned unopposed for a record 11th term which will end in 2012.
Vijayanathan said, voting would start at 11.30am and was expected to end about 2.30pm, at the Putra World Trade Centre, adding that results would be announced after the votes for all posts were counted on the third floor of the centre.
More than 100 people would be involved in the counting process and the candidates and their agents are allowed inside.
The votes would be tallied first for the CWC contest where 63 are vying for 23 places, followed by those for vice-presidents in which seven are battling for the three positions, and lastly, the deputy president.
Vijayanathan explained that delegates must tick the right number of names, according to the number of posts being contested.
Any less or more would make the vote invalid, he said.
The election committee would be "flexible" if there was request for recounts, he added.
Vijayanathan reminded candidates that campaigning ended at noon today, and if there was evidence of any candidate flouting that, they would be referred to the disciplinary committee.
-- BERNAMA
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MIC Youth Members Can Air Complaints Online
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama)-- MIC Youth members can now air their grouses online to the movement's portal through the "e-MIC Youth", as part of its Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
Its vice-chief, V.Muligan said the service was not meant to punish national and state leaders, and division heads but was rather aimed at solving problems raised by members at the grassroots level quickly.
"All divisions must strive to solve problems posted to the e-MIC Youth within three days.
"If they can't, the complaints will be brought up to the state or national level to be solved within one week," he told reporters at the launch of the e-MIC Youth here on Friday.
Muligan said he would monitor all reports on the complaints made through the e-MIC Youth every week.
"We will analyse every report from major cases to small ones like scholarships, birth certificates, single mothers and aid for the poor.
"This will enable us to understand problems faced by the Indian community better," he said.
-- BERNAMA
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MIC Elections Test Of Samy Vellu's Grip In His Final Term
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- The MIC polls on Saturday will decide the direction of the party and will be a test of Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu's grip on the party going into his final term after 33 years almost unchallenged as the president.
A determined Samy Vellu has assembled his own team in incumbent deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel, who is defending his post, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, Datuk S.K. Devamany and Datuk M. Saravanan to clinch all the three vice-president tickets and any 23 of 27 candidates for the 23 seats in the central working committee (CWC).
Former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam and vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan, both of whom are going for the No. 2 post, and several other candidates have called for change and they believe that that can only be possible if Palanivel is defeated to weaken Samy Vellu.
The losses suffered by the MIC at the last general election could weigh on the balloting pattern.
This makes the election probably the most tense and most watched in the 63-year history of the MIC.
Campaigning officially ended at noon today but the wooing of the 1,464 delegates is expected to continue into the wee hours of tomorrow right until voting time.
A Selangor delegate who declined to be identified said MIC members and the Indian community in general wanted leaders who can boldly voice out the aspirations of the Indian community and also work well with other component parties so that the party would regain its respect.
Another Klang Valley delegate said the MIC faced the task of regaining the support of the Indian community.
"In the last general election, the MIC lost many seats because the community turned to vote opposition candidates," he said.
Party veteran and vice-president Datuk S. Veerasingham is for Samy Vellu's team. "Everyone wants to try the catchy word 'change' which has been used by (US president Barack) Obama. Samy Vellu's request to the delegates is to vote those he endorsed so that they can work with him," he said.
Universiti Putra Malaysia lecturer M. Neelamegham said that while change was the key word for most of the candidates, they had failed to focus on what type of change they were talking about.
He said whatever the change, emphasis must be on more opportunities for youth members and empowerment of MIC state leaders.
"Even until now MIC has come out with so much of planning, (but) they have to implement it and focus on their future programmes," he said.
Universiti Sains Malaysia senior lecturer M. Sivamurugan said that in making their decision, the delegates should look at the characters of the candidates and focus on the need to strengthen the party following the near wipe-out at the last general election.
"The changes are very important and should be drastic ... the party and members have to prepare for the next general election," he said.
Another attention grabber will be the race for the 23 CWC slots for which the president has endorsed 27 of the 63 contenders.
"This election is going to be a disappointment for Samy Vellu because many candidates who are not in his list will likely win," said a woman delegate.
Samy Vellu retained the top post unopposed in March for a record 11th consecutive term that will end in 2012.
-- BERNAMA
Samy hits out at Dr M, Utusan, malaysiakini
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author_photo("RK Anand")
| RK Anand
Sep 11, 09
5:19pm |  | |
MIC president S Samy Vellu today lashed out at former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Umno-owned
Utusan Malaysia daily for interfering in his party polls.
In a brief exclusive interview with
Malaysiakini, the 73-year-old president said it was the 84-year-old statesman who excelled in the art of 'destroying deputies'.
Samy Vellu said while he had one deputy for 25 years, Mahathir had four during his 22-year tenure.
This is the first time Samy Vellu had openly criticised the former Umno president despite the latter's negative comments about him in the past.
He was responding to an article published in Tamil daily
Makkal Osai yesterday which quoted Mahathir expressing support for the MIC supremo's arch nemesis S Subramaniam.
The daily is linked to Subramaniam, who is attempting to reclaim his deputy president post which he lost to incumbent G Palanivel in 2006. The party elections is tomorrow.
'He sat beside me for 25 years'
Samy Vellu said he was tickled by Mahathir's accusation that he had never allowed any other leader in his party to grow.
"When I took over the presidency, there was one man who sat there for 25 years next to me. (It was) none other than the same Subramaniam.
"If I would finish people with a vengeance (as alleged by Mahathir), I don't think he would have been there for 25 years," he added.
The veteran MIC president also disagreed with Mahathir's accusation that he never groomed leaders in the party.
"I only had two leaders (as deputy president) during my total period of 29 years (as president). Ninety percent of the time, it was Subramaniam and he is still not satisfied.
"He is not happy about they way we treated him like a Maharaja. He was really like a prince in MIC. The latest... three years Palanivel was there," he said.
'Master of destroying deputies'
However, Samy Vellu pointed out that there was a trail of destruction in terms of deputies when it came to Mahathir's track record.
Apart from his three deputies who were given the boot, the former premier was also credited with playing a pivotal role in engineering the downfall of his fourth deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who succeeded him in 2003 and vacated the post this year.
"Look at the history of Mahathir. Who was his first deputy... Musa Hitam. What happened to Musa? I know the story as I was in the cabinet," said Samy Vellu.
"After that (it) was Ghafar Baba. What happened to Ghafar Baba? A man who was a nationalist was thrown out of the cabinet just like that," he added.
"The third Anwar Ibrahim, there was a time when Mahathir said Anwar is the only man who can control the country... He praised him so much. But what happened to Anwar?
"Who really destroyed the deputies? He is a master in destroying his deputies. I don't destroy any deputies, they stayed there for such a long time," he stressed.
In the past, Samy Vellu said that he bit his tongue out of respect when Mahathir criticised him.
"I still consider him as a great leader and a builder of a modern nation. So I didn't want to make any unnecessary comments about him even though when I stood for elections (last year), he said don't vote for Samy Vellu.
"I would have trashed him. I am not afraid of anybody... man lives once and he dies once. It doesn't matter, I am prepared for anything," he added.
Was Umno behind it?
As for Utusan, Samy Vellu labelled the Malay daily as a 'racist' publication which went against the 1Malaysia concept espoused by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
The daily had carried a report on its front-page today quoting political analysts saying that Samy Vellu should quit.
Although the MIC president said he did not know if the Umno leadership was behind the report in an attempt to sway votes in the party elections, observers claimed that the agenda was obvious.
"I don't know how much of Umno's intervention is involved. But it is usual for Utusan to act like the big brother and hit everyone flat and they feel happy about it...," said Samy Vellu.
"I don't know if this Umno leadership would stoop down to this level (of masterminding such a report)... in any case, whatever
Utusan has done is not going to disturb us," he added.
Samy Vellu stressed that MIC members and the Indian community do not believe the news that appear in the daily.
"I give you an example, the cow-head incident, we all condemned the demonstration thinking that it will bring about racial misunderstanding and brew trouble in the country
"But that news, they don't carry. They carry news in support of the cow-head demonstration, they are determined to do something that is (detrimental) to others rather than what is true," he said.
"Secondly, as and when you give them some news, the news must be to their taste and not the truth, then only they will publish.
"Nowadays, I don't call their reporters anymore because we feel it is sort of a very racial paper which does not contribute to national interests," he added.
'Hydrogen bomb'
Samy Vellu was also asked to comment on whether a MIC leader who came into power riding on the support of Umno would be subservient to that party and not be effective in defending the Indian community.
Training his guns on Subramaniam, the president said: "He is already subservient to Mahathir, I don't know to what extent he is subservient to Umno... he needs somebody to push him forward. He can't stand on his own legs."
"Is this the type of leadership that the Indian community needs... a community that is suffering from poverty and just attempting to come up... it needs a leader who can talk and bring about change," he added.
Asked on the 'hydrogen bomb' (damning evidence) which he claims to have against Subramaniam, Samy Vellu said: "He actually thought he is blasting a hydrogen bomb... he comes out with this and that about Samy Vellu.
"I have got many things about Subramaniam. If I detonate that, it will become a hydrogen bomb... how irresponsible he behaved when he was in government positions," he added.
On why he had not detonated the bomb as yet, Samy Vellu said: "I don't want to do that ... unless it is extremely necessary."
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themalaysianinsider.com
Attacks on Samy not meant to stir MIC polls, says Dr M
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid PETALING JAYA, Sept 11 - Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad denied accusations that his scathing criticism against MIC president Datuk Seri Samy Vellu was intended to influence the outcome of tomorrow’s party polls.
The influential figure also shrugged off suggestions that he was backing Samy’s enemy, Datuk S. Subramaniam for the party’s deputy presidency post when he sang praises about the former MIC deputy president in an interview with Makkal Osai, a Tamil daily belonging to the latter.
“My statements are my personal opinion. I am not backing Subramaniam but as I said before, MIC will fall if Samy is still president and what I say has nothing to do with the party polls,” he told a brief press conference here.
The public squabble between Dr Mahathir and Samy started when the former openly called for his one time staunch ally and supporter to be removed from the helm of the Indian-based party which is suffering from a collapse of confidence from the country’s Indian electorate.
The former premier had said, and reiterated today, that Samy who was “elected” unopposed for the 11th time as president six months ago, is the cause behind the loss of support towards MIC.
“I have said it before the general elections last year, if Samy is still the president of MIC, the party will lose,” said Dr Mahathir today.
Samy retaliated by accusing Dr Mahathir of neglecting the Indian community when he was in power and today said the former premier was notorious for his “skills in destroying his deputies.”
He also accused Subramaniam of playing dirty, alleging that his enemy had seek external forces to canvass for support, an accusation Subramaniam vehemently denied.
Observers note that Dr Mahathir’s statement would cause a “staggering” effect and would in a way influence the outcome of the party polls tomorrow.
Should Subramaniam be elected, party insiders believe his victory would be the first step towards the party’s effort to oust Samy who has been clinging to power for more than two decades now.
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Subramanian Denies Getting Outside Help In Mic Election Bid
KLANG, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Former MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam has denied he is banking on external influence to canvass for votes in his bid to recapture the deputy presidency in the party elections on Saturday.
He said it was beyond his control should any political party leader outside the MIC make favourable statements about him.
"He (MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu) gets upset whenever somebody praises me ... everyone has the right to speak," Subramaniam told reporters after attending a gathering with about 900 members and delegates of the Klang MIC Divison near here on Thursday night.
An online news portal yesterday carried an article published on the front page of a local Tamil daily which had quoted former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as praising Subramaniam, among other things.
In a statement later published on the portal, Samy Vellu was reported as saying that Subramaniam had lost whatever credibility that was left in him by seeking the help of people outside the MIC.
"Subramaniam is so desperate that he has to seek the mandate from Mahathir to win in the party elections. He has brought shame to the MIC members and the party," he was quoted as saying.
Subramaniam said Dr Mahathir spoke his mind without fear or favour and the paper just published what he had said.
"I had nothing to do with it. I am grateful to him (Dr Mahathir) because he had said something nice about me," he said.
Subramaniam is challenging incumbent deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel for the post of deputy president. Another candidate for the post is vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan.
A political analyst from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Dr Sivamurugan Pandian, told Bernama that the chances were there for Subramaniam to get sympathy votes in the party elections following the decision of the MIC Central Working Committee (CWC) to refer Subramaniam to the disciplinary committee.
Samy Vellu had said the disciplinary action against Subramaniam and legal action against former vice-president Datuk V. Govindaraj were for making a media statement that he (Samy Vellu) defeated Subramaniam in the election for the MIC deputy presidency in 1977 by using dirty tactics.
-- BERNAMA
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themalaysianinsider.com
By Baradan Kuppusamy KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — The focus of the MIC election tomorrow is the fierce three-cornered contest for the deputy president’s post in which incumbent Datuk G. Palanivel is being challenged by former deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam and newcomer Datuk S. Sothinathan.
For party president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu, who is backing Palanivel, 60, the battle is what Tamils call maana perachanai or an issue of personal pride.
If Palanivel loses it is not only the end of his political career but the defeat would put the final nail in his coffin.
After dominating the MIC since 1979 it will be the exit door for Samy Vellu following his defeat in Sungei Siput in 2008, the loss of the Works Ministry and his sidelining by the political establishment.
Samy Vellu is going all out to help Palanivel win, seeing in his victory a chance to hang on for more years as MIC president.
In the unlikely chance that Sothinathan is victorious, Samy Vellu is likely to easily dump Palanivel and embrace his former blue-eyed boy through whom he could also extend his tenure.
But he would face unrelenting pressure to quit if Subramaniam upsets his plans and emerges victorious.
What is Subramaniam’s chance for victory?
It is a question in the minds of many Malaysians, not just MIC members but also Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat supporters.
The Subramaniam today is different from the leader who contested Palanivel in a straight fight in 2006 and lost miserably by polling only 495 votes to Palanivel’s 933.
After March 8, after Hindraf and after Makkal Sakthi, Subramaniam is emerging as the only MIC leader able to stand on his own and is seen as the one person in the Indian community who can give the MIC a future.
Large crowds of Indians, many of them expelled from the party, had gathered to hear Subramaniam speak during his campaign stops across the country.
In Klang last night nearly 1,000 Indians, many of them not even MIC members, gathered to hear Subramaniam speak for change and why the MIC needs to change now or face death.
A specially made video of Subramaniam – his rise, work, contributions – were shown to the crowd who clapped and cheered at every turn.
Earlier when Subramaniam arrived they carried banners depicting his slogan Change for the Better, and shouted Subra! Subra! At one point they hoisted him onto their shoulders.
It was the kind of Indian grassroots welcome given to lawyer P. Uthayakumar in the wake of the Nov 25, 2007 Hindraf protest.
While he might he attacked and sidelined in the MIC, Indian community support for Subramaniam is growing among former party members who had supported the Pakatan Rakyat.
The enthusiastic reception he got on his campaign rounds is evidence of this, his supporters said, pointing to fact that his campaign promise to reunite the MIC and take back all individuals expelled from the party, has touched their hearts.
“They want to come back but they have no place to come to, no home unless the MIC opens the door to them again,” said Datuk K. Tangavellu, who was part of the crowd in Klang on Thursday night.
Subramaniam may be gaining ground in the Indian community as perception of him as rebel leader gains credence but to win in the deputy president’s contest he needs to convince at least 720 of the 1,450 MIC delegates to back him.
Subramaniam supporters claim they started the contest with 500 votes in hand. These are hardcore Subramaniam supporters.
“We need another 250 votes and victory is ours,” they said adding that they expected Sothinathan to split the remaining 1,000 votes and give Subramaniam a chance slip through.
“It would be a narrow victory,” his supporters said adding the winning majority would be about “50 or 60 votes.”
Such an optimistic prediction belies the fact that Samy Vellu has been working hard criss-crossing the country to win support for Palanivel.
He has been working the telephone for up to 18 hours a day, his senior aide said.
“We are confident of victory but a narrow one,” he said adding that at least 800 of the delegates are “diehard” Samy Vellu supporters.
“They will vote as directed by Samy Vellu…without question,” he said.
In addition Samy Vellu’s camp is euphoric over their belief that the support given to Subramaniam by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would backfire as the party rank and file did not like it.
“This is clear interference in MIC politics to help Subramaniam…it will backfire,” a senior MIC leader said.
“Mahathir did little for Indians in the 22 years as Prime Minister and for him to support Subramaniam now does not go down well without delegates.”
Samy Vellu has been capitalising on the issue, attacking Subramaniam for bending over backwards to betray the MIC with an “outsider.”
Samy Vellu has another chance to go for the jugular on this issue after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak opens tomorrow's assembly.
“That’s when Samy traditionally gives a speech in Tamil just before voting starts,” said the veteran MIC leader. “He might use the Tun Mahathir-issue to move delegates to reject Subramaniam for inviting outside interference in the MIC election.”
By Baradan Kuppusamy - The Malaysian Insider