Mugilan vows 'drastic' action to end Samy's reign

By RK Anand and G Vinod

KUALA LUMPUR: Sacked MIC Youth deputy chief V Mugilan has vowed to announce something “drastic” tomorrow which could potentially end party president S Samy Vellu's 30-year reign.

“There would be no more Samy Vellu next year,” he told FMT.

When pressed, Mugilan declined to elaborate on his announcement, beyond saying that it would be explosive.

“You media people would be very happy with what I am about to say. Be patient, wait for my press conference and I would reveal my plan,” he said.

Mugilan, who on Thursday called for Samy Vellu's resignation by year-end, is scheduled to hold a press conference at the Lotus restaurant in Petaling Jaya tomorrow morning.

The MIC Youth leader said his letter of expulsion was dropped in his house mailbox in Rawang around 11pm last night.

'Sacked for criticising Samy Vellu'

Mugilan stressed that he was sacked for criticising Samy Vellu, and not for sabotaging Barisan Nasional and MIC during the Hulu Selangor by-election as claimed by the president.

“I deny the allegation that I had worked against MIC and BN during the by-election. The letter (of) expulsion stated that I am being sacked for criticising Samy Vellu,” he said.

Mugilan sent a SMS to FMT on the contents of the letter, which, among others, quoted Samy Vellu as saying that “you had cast aspersions on my character and disparaged me”.

The president added: “You have contravened Article 14.2.1 of the (party) constitution and completely ignored the provisions of Article 58 (2), which provide that the president 'shall hold office for three years'.”

“You have thereby contravened the principles of the congress (MIC) and acted in a manner detrimental to the interests of the congress.”

Among Mugilan's qoutes which the president found offensive, was the Youth leader's description of Samy Vellu as the “biggest stumbling block” and that he was the reason why BN lost Indian votes in the last general election.

In the letter, Samy Vellu said that he had decided to expel Mugilan, after consulting deputy president G Palanivel, with immediate effect pursuant to Article 61.2 of the party constitution.

Mugilan, who has been given 14 days to appeal, said he would do so on Monday.

'Father, son and daughter-in-law'

Describing his sacking as unfair, the Youth leader said he had merely done what Samy Vellu did in the past, when the latter called on former president VT Sambanthan to step down.

“He can do it, but I cannot. Sambanthan was a successful politician, but our friend's projects were all failures like Maika Holdings, MIED (MIC's education arm) and the Aimst university,” he said.

Asked if the president had spoken to him, Mugilan replied: “He would not do that. He is not a professional politician, he makes emotional decisions. He is a real dictator, who expels people when they express their views.”

Mugilan then accused Samy Vellu of turning MIC into an entity that serves the interests of his family members.

“MIC is for the father (Samy Vellu), his son (Vell Paari) and his daughter-in-law (Puteri MIC deputy chief Shaila Nair),” he said.

Backed by the 'top guns'

Mugilan also claimed that he has the backing of top MIC leaders.

“I am not talking about branch or division chairmen. I am talking about high-level leaders, the top guns,” he said, adding that these leaders called him to express support.

“They told me that it is high time someone did this (to Samy Vellu),” he said.

Furthermore, Mugilan claimed that he received phone calls from “more than 1,000” branch chairmen who praised him for his courage to stand up against the president and encouraged him to continue the fight.

On whether he had received any threats, Mugilan said his adversaries know better than to do such things.

“They wouldn't dare threaten me. I am not scared,” he added.

'Don't bring Umno into this'

Despite speculation that Umno is backing him on this issue, Mugilan denied that he was acting upon the instruction of outsiders.

“I am an MIC man, not an Umno man. I am an elected MIC leader. There is no such thing, don't bring Umno into this matter,” added Mugilan, who is known to share close ties with certain Umno bigwigs.

Speculation is rife that Umno leaders, including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, are applying pressure on Samy Vellu to relinquish his post as soon as possible.

On Thursday, the 74-year-old MIC president said he would stick to his plan to step down “eight to nine months” before his presidential term expires in May 2012 and that he has informed Najib about it.

CWC member backs Mugilan

In a related development, MIC central working committee (CWC) nember G Kumar Aman has expressed support for Mugilan.

“Mugilan has always been a party man. He is one person who serves the public without craving for publicity,” he told FMT.

Kumar also believes that Mugilan should appeal against his sacking, and stressed that he is prepared to face the backlash for supporting him.

“Mugilan and I represent thousands of Indian youths in the country,” he said.

Kumar also said he was not surprised that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin wanted Mugilan to contest in Hulu Selangor, because he is a capable leader who has served the people well.

Mugilan was dropped in favour of MIC information chief P Kamalanathan after Samy Vellu opposed the former's candidacy.

Kamalanathan was seen as the “compromise” candidate after a tussle between MIC and Umno following the BN leadership's refusal to field former incumbent and MIC number two Palanivel.