Samy's exit: Start of a new era or a new nightmare?

Samy - the last of his clique

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

MIC president Samy Vellu’s announcement that he would step down in January next year was greeted with sighs of relief especially within the Indian community, but even so, few are willing to celebrate just yet.

Not only because the 74-year old leader has been known to change his mind before, there were also fears that he might still control the party behind the scenes.

Or that his successor, deputy president G Palanivel, might continue the same sort of iron-fisted rule and policies that have been blamed for turning off many young intellectuals from joining the MIC.

“Samy’s departure, if he really does go, will mark the end of an era of strong, one-way type of leadership. He belongs to the same clique as Mahathir Mohamad, Ling Liong Sik and Lim Keng Yaik. All have retired from the Cabinet and their parties although some of them may still be involved indirectly in politics,” Ramon Navaratman, chairman of Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, told Malaysia Chronicle.

“It is to be hoped that MIC members will use the opportunity to further democratize their party, put in better systems so that the voices of the community as whole is heard the loudest and not just the top leaders’. Then hopefully it can get going in helping to address the multitude of problems plaguing the community.”

Free-for-all and sooner rather than later

Palanivel

However, that might be easier said than done. Not only is Palanivel’s support within the party weak, Samy’s son Vel Paari is also eyeing his father’s chair. Human Resources minister Dr S Subramaniam, who is close to Samy, is expected to play the role of mediator in the event that a free-for-all erupts after Samy vacates his seat.

However, the tussle for power may not come from Vel but from other factions led by former deputy president Subramaniam Sinniah or even S Sothinanthan. Despite the high risk of infighting, pundits say internal chaos was still better than for Samy to stay put. According to them, spats and bickering were ever present in the MIC and a shake-up no matter how severe would be preferable rather than the status quo.

“At the end of the day, we have to look at how much the Indian community can benefit from MIC. As it is now, most Malaysian Indians will tell you they get nothing from MIC. So it doesn’t matter if Samy goes and a tsunami takes place in the party. It cannot be avoided anyway. And it is better to drain the pus, let the storm cleanse away all its impurities. There is no other way for the MIC to reform,” PKR supreme council member N Gobalakrishan told Malaysia Chronicle.

Vel Paari

“But whether this is what Prime Minister Najib is expecting is a different story. For him, he may think he can persuade the MIC to put on a united front once Samy goes, do some window dressing and the community will be fooled into thinking a new era has begun for them. But MIC members are a different breed. They will have their own script and I don’t think they can wait patiently before they start going after each.”

When the boss is Umno and not the Indian community

Indeed, many believe Prime Minister Najib Razak finally made Samy a retirement offer Samy could not refuse because he wanted to call for snap general elections next year. Because of Samy’s huge unpopularity within his own community, pundits believe that only a revamped MIC with a new leader could help the Barisan Nasional coalition with the 13th general election.

S Subramaniam

“To me, this is the end of one of the darkest periods for the Malaysian Indians. Samy owes a lot of explanation to his community why under his 31-year leadership, Malaysian Indians have become among the most marginalized groups with only 1 percent of the wealth ownership in the country,” Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming told Malaysia Chronicle.

“Under Samy, Maika Holdings, which is supposed to help the Indians, has become known only for controversies and scandals. In short, Samy and MIC have failed their community miserably. And real change for the Indians won’t come even after Samy goes. It is not just that he might control the party through his proxies, but the MIC itself is compromising the Indian community by being part of the BN. When you are part of the BN, the boss is Umno. Do you think the new MIC leaders will listen to their own people or to Umno?”