Palani must break out of his cocoon

The MIC president has still not announced the official line-up and without the CWC members named it is difficult to hear complaints of irregularities in the party polls.

PETALING JAYA: MIC president G Palanivel’s silence on alleged irregularities during the party polls to pick three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee members is leading the party to uncertainty.

The polls process came under close scrutiny after candidates found disparity between votes cast and ballots counted.

There were also speculations as to why a delegate was given access to secretariat and security management duties which further raised questions on the polls’ integrity.

An MIC election steering committee source told FMT that any complaint regarding the polls should be made to the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC).

“The party has a set of election by-laws introduced in 2003 and applied for the polling process which took place in Malacca on Nov 30 and Dec 1.

“Most of the delegates believed that the party constitution comprises everything including the polls process, but they have forgotten or neglected the election by-laws,” said the election committee member.

The member also pointed out to Part VIII, Disputes column, Article 8 which states that:

“If any candidate is aggrieved with the manner in which the elections have been conducted or with decision of the returning officer he may appeal within seven days of the elections to the Central Working Committee whose decision thereon shall be final”.

A check with another veteran party leader, who also declined to be named, confirms that the CWC has to be convened soon to hear the polls irregularities.

The former party leader said since the complaints were made against the election committee, the CWC was the authorised entity to hear the complaints.

The party has nt held its CWC meeting since the polls, and Palanivel has yet to announce the list of office bearers.

“The first thing that needs to be done is to quickly re-appoint the secretary-general and treasurer-general or if the president wants to bring in new faces, has to be done swiftly.

“Secondly, the president has to instruct the secretary-general to call for a CWC meeting to hear the complaints,” said the veteran leader.

President’s credibility affected

He added that the delay in naming the new line-up had created more unrest among party members.

Not only that, it boils down to the credibility of the president to manage the party.

“The president talked about transformation in his opening speech, but it looks like he is failing in his responsibilities and incapable to make decisions for the benefit of the party.

“Whether it is a wise or bad decision, the president has to stop dragging his feet,” he said.

It is also widely speculated that the president has succumbed to a major force that is intervening to replace the secretary-general and treasurer-general as well as the nine CWC positions that need to be appointed.

The party chief has yet to make any public statement in the wake of increasing allegations of wrong-doings at the polls.

Two former party Youth chiefs T Mohan and SA Vigneswaran had publicly questioned the integrity of the election committee. There have also been calls for a re-election.

On another front, a party election committee member confirmed the presence of a woman, called Mala, in the counting and tabulation of votes.

Two days ago, MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam pointed the finger at the president to decide if a re-election was needed following allegations of unfair practices.

The president has to break his silence since the confusion among the party members could lead to leadership distrust and further divide the party.