MIC top guns have agreed not to contest in next month’s presidential election following their discussions with Barisan Nasional chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Najib had advised the leaders - MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel (pic), his deputy Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, and vice-presidents Datuk M. Saravanan and Datuk S.K. Devamany - to avoid a contest as it would lead to a division in the party.
According to The Star online, a senior party official said during the meeting on Sunday, Najib had also asked them to concentrate on strengthening the party and regaining support from the Indian community.
“The four had a separate meeting in a hotel and decided to accept Najib’s advice for the sake of unity. The decision was made by the four leaders themselves,” he said yesterday.
As a compromise, it is believed that Palanivel had agreed to endorse Dr Subramaniam for deputy president. He added Dr Subramaniam had also spoken about the compromise during a closed-door dinner with his supporters in Putrajaya on Monday.
Although there were strong calls for Dr Subramaniam to vie for the president’s post, he declined to comment other than saying that an announcement would be made at the appropriate time.
Any leader intending to contest for the president’s post must obtain 50 nominations, with each nomination getting the support of six branch chairmen, with over 4,000 branch chairmen eligible to vote.
The last time there was a contest in MIC was in 1993 when Kapar division chairman S. Subramaniam, contested and lost to incumbent Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.
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