Is Palanivel a leader or problem? – Thomas Samuel

The MIC election saga has taken way too long to be resolved and the one person who has opposed all avenues for an amicable resolution of this problem is none other than Datuk Seri G. Palanivel.

The MIC annual general meeting (AGM) was held in December 2013 to elect the president, deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee (CWC) members.

As per the MIC constitution, the president and deputy president are elected earlier followed by the elections for the three VPs and 23 CWC members.

Palanivel was elected unopposed for the president's position while Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam was elected unopposed to the deputy president's position.

To say that the president and deputy president were elected unopposed by the MIC delegates may not be entirely correct.

Before the nominations for the top two posts, there was a “gentlemen’s agreement” or commitment agreed upon by Palanivel and Dr Subramaniam in the presence of the Barisan Nasional chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that there would be no contest for the top two posts in MIC.

It was further agreed that Palanivel was to hand over the presidency to Dr Subramaniam in 2016. Based on this agreement and commitment by both the leaders, there was no contest and the MIC delegates showed their support by endorsing the “agreement” by ensuring there was no contest for the top two posts.

Given this scenario, it is grossly unethical of Palanivel to claim that he is the president of MIC elected by the delegates in 2013.

In reality, he is the “non-elected” president of the party by default when Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu stepped down in 2010 and then “not elected” again because of the compromise reached in 2013 with the PM and Dr Subramaniam.

To now claim that he is the rightful elected president of MIC and has the powers under the party constitution to appoint and suspend members at his sole discretion is a gravely unjustified.

As we reflect back on the reasons for this saga, we can see yet again that the one person solely responsible for this is Palanivel.

The 2013 AGM and elections were conducted under the chairmanship of Palanivel.

After a long and detailed investigation and evaluation of the reports received from members on the discrepancies during the MIC elections, the Registrar of Society (RoS) found sufficient evidence to decide that the elections of the three VPs and 23 CWC members were null and void and a re-election should be held within the stipulated time frame given by RoS in compliance with the party constitution.

Instead of taking full responsibility for this chaos, Palanivel chose to defy the decision of the RoS and took this matter even further by threatening to sue RoS.

The root cause of the problem in MIC today is Palanivel. At every solution provided, he has turned his back towards it.

The last and final one was the offer by the Barisan Nasional leadership to mediate and conduct independent elections on behalf of MIC. This, too, has been rejected by Palanivel without providing any alternative suggestion to resolve this crisis.

We should now wonder why Palanivel has continuously rejected all forms of advice and assistance rendered by many parties to resolve this crisis.

The right and honourable thing to do is to go back to the delegates and get officially elected to cement his claim that he is the rightful president of MIC.

Why is he shying away from this process that is provided for in the party constitution?

Is he afraid that he may lose? Or is he or people behind him so crazy of power that they forgot that this is a party for the Indian community and the members should be given their constitutional right to elect their president. Maybe there is more to this saga than the eye can see.

Let us try to establish this further. We can start by evaluating if Palanivel is a capable leader. That is something we have all missed to evaluate in this drama.

A good leader is one who is able to make wise decisions and someone who is respected by many. Sadly, Palanivel does not meet either criteria. He has appointed and removed more than 11 members from important positions in the party within a short period of around 18 months.

These are important positions in the party such as secretary-general, treasurer-general, state chairmen, etc.

Whoever is appointed to any of these positions is considered as capable and a loyal member of the party and in particular, to the party president.

Going by the action of Palanivel, it is obvious that he had made bad decisions time and again as proven by the many appointments and removals that he has done in a short time. Can someone who continues to make such unwise decisions be considered a leader?

On the second criterion, respect is earned and not given due a position you hold. Is Palanivel a respected leader?

A leader is someone who is inclusive and makes decisions based on collective opinion. All decisions made by Palanivel so far have been unilateral and he is solely responsible for them.

From the appointment of the election committee to conduct the flawed AGM in 2013 to the appointment of leaders in the party and awarding of senatorship, it was the sole decision of Palanivel.

To add salt to the wound, three out of the four senators he nominated have turned against him. What does this show of his decision-making skills and the respect they have for him?

Honestly, at all counts this man has failed. He is not a solution provider but creates more problems to an existing situation.

He uses the MIC constitution to his advantage at the expense of honesty, ethics and professionalism. He has completely forgotten that he is not the party but MIC belongs to the Indians in Malaysia.

There are only two ways he can resolve this stalemate – conduct elections for all positions as recommended by RoS and obtain the legitimate endorsement from the delegates to lead the party or do the noble act of taking responsibility for all this chaos and resign from the position he has been holding based on goodwill.

If he fails to do any of the above and continues to challenge RoS and the Barisan Nasional government, I wish to appeal to the prime minister to exercise his constitutional right to remove Palanivel as a minister and hold that position for MIC until a new leader is legitimately elected in a true and fair election.

* Thomas Samuel reads The Malaysian Insider.