Samy Vellu: I'm making major announcements on Monday

Samy - missed for his famous hairstyle if not politics

KUALA LUMPUR - MIC President Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu, who is to step down soon, said today he would make some major announcements concerning party affairs at the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday.

"For your information, at the CWC meeting on Nov 29, I will present a lot of things to the CWC and then they will decide what to do next. That is the most I can tell you today," he told reporters after presenting cheques to students at the MIC headquarters, here.

When pressed to elaborate on the "things", the MIC chief for close to 32 years said: "Lots of things ... what are the things to be done and all that."

Sources said Samy Vellu's announcements could include the exact date of his retirement. The former works minister had said he would step down in January next year. There have also been reports that he would leave at the end of this month.

Days earlier, Samy Vellu had said that he would make an announcement on his plans after retirement on Dec 13, a day after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is scheduled to launch a biography on the Indian leader.

When asked by reporters if he planned to take a break after stepping down, he said: "There is no such thing as a break in my life. My life is like a diesel engine, you cannot stop it.

"You must keep on allowing it to run, then only it gets stronger and better."

Today's development has only strengthened the speculation that Samy Vellu would be made a special envoy of the government to help secure infrastructure projects in India.

Samy Vellu is expected to hand over the party to deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel, who will serve as acting president until the next party elections.