PETALING JAYA, JULY 8- Former MIC president S Samy Vellu yesterday attended Tafe College’s graduation ceremony in Seremban.
It was a normal function, with graduates picking up their scrolls with beaming smiles.
Flanked by MIC deputy president and Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam, the former MIC chief was jovial in shaking hands with students and parents alike but the mood changed once he met waiting newsmen.
Samy Vellu is the chairmen of the MIC’s education arm, Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED), which runs not only the Tafe College but also the AIMST University.
MIED has combined assets worth nearly RM800 million. It is the jewel in the crown for MIC. Although Samy Vellu relinquished the party top post in 2010, he continues to hold the MIED chairmanship.
The post is usually held by the party president but this changed in 2010, when he stepped down and was replaced by current party chief G Palanivel. The “old man” as he is fondly referred to in the party is a wily politician.
He did not give it all-up in 2010. He held on to MIED knowing that the party would be powerless without MIED’s financial backing.
The move, then, also ensured that he had an indirect say in the running of the party.
With this backdrop, Samy Vellu, the man who held the party with an iron grip for 31 years as president, was in a combative mood when asked to speak on the party and its future direction at the Tafe ceremony yesterday.
Breaking his silence on the way the party is being run, Samy Vellu said he would make his choice of president known closer to the party’s presidential election, slated for Sept 21 with nomination scheduled for Sept 1. “
What is certain is that I am going to support somebody. I have been watching developments in the party during the last four to five years and I think the party needs a new life.
“What we cannot do is to allow a party of that magnitude to go down even further,” he quipped.
This statement would have send shivers down the spine of several top MIC leaders.
Samy Vellu is indirectly calling for a change in top leadership by saying that the “party needs a new life.”
And he is hell bent on supporting “somebody” to challenge current president G Palanivel for the top post.
Samy’s list soon
The “somebody” referred to by Samy Vellu, party sources revealed, was none other than Dr Subramaniam.
Party sources confirmed that the relationship between 76-year-old veteran politician and his successor had turned sour over the last two years.
This is because of several moves by Palanivel to appoint “his men” to important positions in the party. Samy Vellu is also irked with the way the party is run.
Palanivel’s pace is a bit too slow for Samy Vellu. “Samy Vellu does not like the way Palanivel is running the party.
Even during the general election, there were some problems but both sides knew that was not a time to fight publicly.
He has picked Dr Subramaniam to take on Palanivel. In fact, they would be starting their campaign as soon as the party branch elections conclude,” said a party source.
Elections to pick 3,988 MIC branch chairmen nationwide would be held between July 12 and Aug 4. The elected branch chairman would vote to decide who the president would be in an event of a contest.
The party would elect divisional leaders after the presidential election.
Polls for other top national positions — deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee members — would be held in November.
Speculation is rife that Samy Vellu would come up with his list of preferred leaders soon, starting with the president’s post.
Although he left active politics three years ago, he still commands an impressive 55% support of MIC division leaders and at least 60% support of branch chairmen, who would vote to pick the president.
“He still remembers their (branch and division chairmen) names. He still has the personal touch.
This translates to support. Whoever Samy Vellu backs in the party elections will win,” said the party source.
Sources further revealed that Samy Vellu has also picked MIC vice president and Youth and Sports deputy minister M Saravanan to be Dr Subramaniam’s running mate. “He wants Saravanan because of Saravanan’s command in Tamil.
Besides that he is young and delivers when asked to. These are the qualities that Samy Vellu likes. All three have met and talked about this…it is just that they do not want to admit it now,” said the source.
While Samy Vellu is setting up “his team”, the same can’t be said of Palanivel. The publicity shy Environment and Natural Resources Minister has been coy over the situation.
It is not known who his preferred deputy would be. But he has been travelling the country, talking to branch and division chairman, telling them he would stay on another term before handing over power to a successor in 2016.
It is still too soon to tell if Palanivel’s latest strategy to keep the top post for another three years would work.
While the party with 680,000 members seem to be coasting, the under current is strong and it is just a matter of time before things boils over. And in this case, Samy Vellu holds the trump card.
