Waytha’s appointment is due to Palani’s failure

Had Palanivel done a good job in looking after the Indian community, there would have been no reason for Najib to turn to Waythamoorthy.

COMMENT

By Vivega

Looking back, one wonders what MIC president G Palanivel has done for the Indian community in the past three years since he became the acting party president.

Clearly, Palanivel has failed to deliver and must be solely blamed for Hindraf leader P Waythamoorthy’s appointment as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department to head a special unit to oversee the Indian affairs.

Had Palanivel done his job well, there would not have been a reason for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to make a Hindraf man a deputy minister.

Prime Minister Najib appointed Palanivel as a senator, deputy minister and finally the lead minister for the socio-economic development of the Indian community in the country.

The government had then allocated RM3 million in 2011 to Community Builders Foundation (CBF) – whose chairman is Palanivel, and another RM700 000 in 2012, to help empower the Indian community

He had everything with him but the question before us is did Palanivel do his job? The brutal answer is that Palanivel had failed to implement new policies and programmes to help the Indians grow.

In the recently concluded general election, MIC only managed to gather about 47% of the Indian votes although Palanivel says 70% of Indians voted for Barisan Nasional in GE13.

The heavy defeats of MIC candidates, as well as the appointment of an activist to do a job that a MIC leader should rightfully be doing is the most shameful and humiliating episode in the history of MIC.

Palanivel was extremely busy in the last two years looking for a safe parliamentary seat for himself. He also took more than two years to decide on MIC candidates list.

Despite allocating RM34.4 million in aid for the people of Cameron Highlands and its neighbouring areas, he only managed to win with a mere 460 votes.

Now speculation is rife that he is working at several fronts to consolidate his position as the party election and to stop challengers from mounting a fight. The postponement of the party elections is the first step.

Next comes the appointments of MIC senators, with three names aligned to Palanivel are speculated to be named as senators. Palanivel would want these three as they are capable to helping him remain as the president.

Winnable candidates?

Palanivel is a political veteran and knows his game plan well. He has always been a few steps ahead of the others. Some party insiders even say that his choice of candidates for the GE was done with an eye on the party polls.

Just look at the candidates list he presented to the prime minister for GE13. It clearly did not adhere to the premier’s call for winnable candidates. What happened to Kota Raja, Subang, Kapar, Teluk Kemang and Sungai Siput?

The party insider says that it was Palanivel’s grand design to make certain candidates lose so that he could remain in total control of the party.

He refused to give a seat for S Sothinathan and moved SK Devamany from Cameron Highlands to Sungai Siput. MIC lost both parliamentry seats.

And now, there is no need for Palanivel to complain about Waythamoorthy being appointed as a deputy minister.

Palanivel must understand that Waythamoorthy was appointed because he (Palanivel) had failed as MIC president. It is also the prerogative of the prime minister to appoint anyone to the cabinet.

Palanivel can walk away tomorrow and I am sure that the MIC will not collapse. By staying further, Palanivel is just adding salt into the wounds of the MIC members.

Vivega is a political observer and an MIC member.