Subra: Our focus on elections, not Cabinet seats

Palanivel's faction says RoS has taken note that Subra has been suspended.

JOHOR BAHRU: The MIC is focusing on the party’s polls and not thinking about Cabinet posts, according to S Subramaniam, the former deputy president who has declared himself acting president.

“Our main challenge now is to hold re-elections as directed by the Registrar of Societies as soon as possible,” he told reporters here after a party event last night, Bernama reported.

He said the party had set July 10-12 for nominations for branch chairman elections and July 17 for polling. He hoped elections would be concluded by October, the deadline given by the registrar.

On Friday Prime Minister Najib Razak had said that the position of G. Palanivel in the Cabinet would be reviewed at a later stage in light of the party leadership struggle.

Palanivel, the party president, had suspended Subramaniam’s membership in the party two weeks ago. In retaliation, Subramanian had declared that Palanivel had lost his membership status through his own actions.

Najib’s remrks were made after a meeting of Umno’s Supreme Council in Kuala Lumpur. He said as head of the government, he had to abide by the registrar’s decisions concerning the leadership crisis in MIC.

Palanivel is environment minister and Subramaniam health minister in Najib’s cabinet.

On Thursday Subramaniam claimed that the registrar, responding to a letter from Subramaniam’s camp, had declared that Palanivel was no longer a member and had recognised that Subramaniam would function as acting president.

However MIC secretary-general S. Sothinathan said yesterday that Subramaniam’s camp had twisted the contents of the registrar’s letter. He said after a meeting with registry officials that the Registrar had acknowledged receiving a letter from Subramaniam’s camp and had replied, following general procedure.

Subramaniam said it was not true that the contents had been twisted. He said that as a government organisation the registry had its own laws and would not simply make a decision without going through the proper process.

On the other hand Sothinathan said he was told, at a 45-minute meeting with registry officials, that the registry had put on record the resolutions passed at a meeting of the 2009 central working committee (comprising Subramaniam’s allies) and also that they would officially note that Subramaniam and 14 other central committee members had been suspended from the party on June 16 by Palanivel.

Sothinathan said the registrar had not made any determination on the application of Article 91 of the MIC Constitution (which Subramaniam had given as the basis for removing Palanivel as party member).

He said the registry officials knew that they had no jurisdiction to interpret the party constitution and only the MIC president and Central Working Committee could do so.