Tussle of party 'heroes' could ruin

MIC JOSTLING FOR POWER: As MIC seeks to reinvent itself, its upcoming party polls could be a replay of 2009's bitter race

Zubaidah Abu Bakar, NST

It appears that some leaders in MIC think only they can steer the party to its rightful place in Malaysian politics -- as the main party for   Indians. Hence, we see keen interest to contest for positions with power, from the president's post, down to the central working committee, in the upcoming party polls.

The leaders think the party is slow in its revival and that heads should roll.

To be fair to Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, MIC under his leadership has taken measures to deal with long standing grouses raised by Indians in the country.

The hard work of Palanivel and his team had seen the party perform better in the 13th General Election than they did in 2008. MIC won four parliamentary seats compared with three in 2008, collected five state seats and lost narrowly in several seats.

But there is still a lot of work to be done. Indians now no longer depend on MIC to fight for their well-being. There are many alternative Indian-based and multi-race political parties and organisations they can turn to.

The strong undercurrent ahead of MIC's internal elections is a cause for concern to party supporters.

The way things are developing, it is possible to see a replay of the 2009 MIC polls campaign where mudslinging, character assassinations and allegations of vote buying came into the picture.

Jostling for power, horse trading and meetings of running mates are already in play as nearly 4,000 party branches hold their elections between now and Aug 4.

As delegates voting in the presidential election on Sept 22, branch chairmen find themselves attending more functions and social gatherings these past few months compared with the whole of last year or the year before.

"This is normal during every party election year," says a branch leader of a division in Kedah, the state which Palanivel recently took over as the new party chief.

Palanivel and his deputy, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, have been crisscrossing the country holding meetings with branch leaders, some during functions organised by their ministries. So have others aspiring to contest senior party posts, like former Senator Datuk Daljit Singh Dhaliwal.

Daljit is relatively unknown outside MIC. However, he claimed to have sufficient support from the branches despite being a Sikh, a minority in the party.

"It is not ethnicity or caste that I am concerned (with). I'm still an Indian and (I am) looking at the larger picture of the Indian community," says Daljit, who will run for party president "even if it's a three-cornered fight", referring to the widespread speculation that Dr Subramaniam will also throw in his hat into the ring.

Talk of Palanivel facing off against his deputy has been around even before the party's presidential election was due last year. The speculation was further fuelled after Dr Subramaniam's appearance with former party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu at the Tafe College graduation ceremony in Seremban last month.

A statement by Samy Vellu at the event, which hinted at a need for change in MIC leadership, led many in the party to believe the former party president of three decades was supporting Dr Subramaniam to contest against Palanivel.

They also believed that Samy Vellu had picked party vice-president M. Saravanan to be Dr Subramaniam's running mate.

MIC sources say although Palanivel was Samy Vellu's protege, their relationship has since turned sour over the running of the party.

The removal of five CWC members and MIC state chiefs aligned to Samy Vellu in the last one month are said to be among the reasons.

Several weeks ago Palanivel removed three appointed CWC members -- former vice-president S. Veerasingham, ex-education bureau head Prof T. Marimuthu and former Perak MIC chief G. Rajoo -- last month and replaced them with Kahang assemblyman R. Vidyanathan, Gadek assemblyman Datuk S. Mahadevan and Jeram Padang assemblyman L. Manickam.

Recently, Vell Paari and Puteri MIC chief Usha Nandini were axed from the panel. They had been replaced with former party vice-president Datuk Seri S. Sothinathan and 34-year-old Sunthar, a son of former deputy president Tan Sri S. Subramaniam, a onetime Samy Vellu rival. Sunthar is a branch chairman in the Seputeh MIC division.

Vell Paari has confirmed he will contest for one of the three party vice-president posts.

Although some may see these changes as an attempt to consolidate Palanivel's position ahead of presidential and CWC elections, others think it was appropriate and in tandem with the transformation process the party is undergoing.

Talk is rife that Palanivel, like Samy Vellu did before, will come out with a "president's list" before the elections for the deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 CWC members in November.

Sothinathan and Sunthar are obvious names in his list of preferred leaders.

For Anbumani Balan, the MIC Federal Territory information chief, all these changes are part of MIC's renewal process and everyone should view it in this light if the party is to remain in the political mainstream.

The party president is making changes in stages, he says, and it is "in the spirit of making the party more appealing to more young Indians and the educated."

His argument on the need for MIC to become attractive to a larger segment of the Indian community is acceptable as the party, although it continues to claim to speak for the country's two million Indian population, is largely a working-class party as many Indians, particularly the middle-class, distance themselves from it.

For many in the middle-class and the affluent, unless MIC can show that it is ready for real change -- for the betterment of the community, the party is not their choice.

It is good if capable Indians are sincere in clamouring to serve their community.

But if the intention to contest in MIC elections is merely to gain political power, it is best these people are kept to a minimum.

Given MIC's vulnerabilities, it cannot afford to lose more support just because its leaders are engrossed in power tussles.