Sources told The Malaysian Insider that party leaders have agreed that the senior leader should be given more bite in the Najib administration now that he has been entrusted the mammoth task of wooing Indian support back into Barisan Nasional’s (BN) fold.
Palanivel assumed the post on Monday after Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu stepped down after 31 years at the helm.
Additionally, some leaders are also said to be uncomfortable that the party’s newly-minted deputy president Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam had a voice as the human resources minister while the party president did not.
Talk has even been circulating that Subramaniam should relinquish his Cabinet spot in favour of the party’s new president, currently a Senator and a deputy minister in the Ministry of Plantation, Industries and Commodities.
When contacted, party vice-president Datuk M. Saravanan confirmed that the sentiment among leaders was that Palanivel should ideally be accorded a ministerial post to further strengthen his position as a leader of the Indian community.
“We disagree that Subramaniam should relinquish his post but we are requesting the prime minister to consider a full ministerial post for Palanivel.
The Tapah MP, who is also the deputy minister for Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being, noted that the party hoped that awarding such a post to Palanivel would further legitimise MIC.
“One way to empower the party is to grant Palanivel a minister’s post,” he said.
He added, however, that while the sentiment was shared by many party leaders, the message was yet to be conveyed to the prime minister.
“Let Palanivel settle in his post as president first. The party will decide its next course of action later,” he said.
Another MIC vice-president and deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s department, Datuk SK Devamany, confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that the party would soon file an appeal to the prime minister for a second full ministerial post.
“We wholeheartedly want another position in the Cabinet. As the party president, he has to be given due recognition in the government.
“It will be a meaningful appointment, for the prime minister often talks about political transformation and now that Palanivel is tasked to recapture Indian support, it is only proper that he is given a ministerial post,” he said.
The Cameron Highlands MP added that in acceding to MIC’s request, the prime minister would find himself on better footing with the Indian community.
“It would be a form of recognition and respect to the Indians and [the] PM will get the support that Barisan Nasional needs from the community,” he predicted.
“Of course, it is the prerogative of the prime minister to decide but MIC will be appealing, on behalf of the 3,600 branches and the Indian community, we will seek for larger government representation,” he added.
MIC Senator Datuk Daljit Singh echoed Saravanan’s view on the topic, adding that as the MIC president, it was important for Palanivel to have direct access to the government’s top decision-making body, the Cabinet.
“He needs to have information on the goings-on in the country and the Cabinet is the highest authority for that.
“If he is able to access government information first-hand, it would strengthen his position in the Indian community. After all, you have to realise, that the MIC president’s post is not just as a leader of the party but also the leader of the Indian community at large,” he said.
When asked if it granting Palanivel a full ministership would only invite derision that he had entered into government through a “back-door”, Daljit disagreed.
He added that he did not agree that Subramaniam should relinquish his post out of respect for Palanivel.
“That, at the end of the day, is for the president to decide. He has the power to decide who should be recommended for ministerial posts or deputy minister posts and so on,” he said.
Daljit added that it was good for the party to be given at least two ministerial posts in the present administration.
MIC currently holds one Cabinet portfolio and four deputy minister posts in the Prime Minister’s Department, Ministry of Federal Territories and Ministry of Plantation industries.
Meanwhile, The Malaysian Insider understands that several party members were surprised that Subramaniam had been immediately hoisted to the post of deputy president following Palanivel’s appointment as full president during yesterday’s transition process.
Palanivel was formerly the party’s deputy president, under Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who stepped down yesterday after a long 31-year reign as party president.
One source told The Malaysian Insider that the confusion was on whether the move had been done according to the party’s constitution.
When contacted, however, MIC secretary-general Datuk T. Rajagopalu brushed aside the rumblings and declared that the appointment had been in accordance with the MIC’s constitution.
He cited Article 53 of the party’s constitution, which reads, “In the event of the post of deputy president falling vacant, the president may, in consultation with the Central Working Committee, appoint an acting deputy president from among the vice-presidents for the rest of the term.”
He also noted that Article 5(1) reads that “the decision of the CWC shall be final and conclusive in respect of any dispute as to the interpretation, construction, rendering and/or meaning of all or any of the provisions in the constitution or of any word or words contained in such rule.”
“Both these clauses in the constitution proves that the decision was legal and binding. There should not be any dispute on this. I believe that they were just made by those who want to cause some discord in the party,” he said.
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