PETALING JAYA, JUNE 11- Six MIC grassroot leaders who were supposedly issued show cause letters by the party disciplinary board have yet to receive the letters although it has been reported in the media.
“The party disciplinary board chairman (KS Nijhar) said show cause letters have been issued to the six leaders but they claim they have no clue about the letters.
“They only know of the offences they supposedly committed through the newspapers. Is this how the MIC leadership runs the party…they should not make any media statement until after the letters had been sent out. Nijhar goes to the media without even checking if the leaders had received the letters,” a party leader told FMT.
The six are RS Maniam (Kota Rajah division), G Jeyakumar (Gombak division) and M Veloo (Teluk Kemang division), and TH Subra (deputy chairman of Sungai Petani), S Kalimuthu (Tasek Permai Baru branch chairman) and S Ramesh Kumar (an ordinary member from Mersing Kiri branch).
Declining to be named, he also said the latest to be “issued” a show cause letter was Johor state secretary M Asojan, who was hauled up for wanting the party to hold its internal elections immediately not wait until end of the year.
Asojan, when contacted, declined comment on the matter.
However, sources in the party headquarters say no letter had been issued to Asojan although media reports claim that he has been issued a letter asking him why he made the statement on the party elections.
“It is the same with Asojan…he did not know about the letter until he read about it in the newspapers. He has not received any letters.
“This is worse then (former president) Samy Vellu’s era. He sacked people and that’s it. Here we have a leadership which wants to flex its muscles by sending show cause and explanation letters to leaders so that others would shut-up,” said another national leader who did not want to be named.
Although the party leadership, headed by G Palanivel, is going after grassroot leaders, it is still unclear what it would do against former secretary generals and veterans G Vadiveloo and DP Vijandran, who had both asked the party to conduct its internal elections soon or risk deregistration by the Registrar of Societies.
Party sources claim, Palanivel was now training his guns on Vadiveloo.
“Now if you start issuing show cause letters to those who criticize the leadership, what about Vell Paari (MIC strategy bureau chief) who challenged the president to call for a central working committee meeting soon,” he added.
Vell Paari has been on a rampage in the media lately against the party leadership over several matters.
MIC is currently is facing a constitutional crisis over its internal polls. Palanivel who is also Natural Resources and Environment Minister has obtained the central working committee’s green light to only start branch elections at the end of the year.
Some within the party are questioning the date because the decision would result in the elections for top national office bearers, including the president, to be held next year.
The delay would extend the current term of present office bearers to four years, when the constitution only allows for a three-year term, after which elections must be called.
MIC last held its internal polls in 2009 that saw former party chief S Samy Vellu winning the presidency uncontested. He stepped down in 2010 in favor of Palanivel as acting president.
It must be noted that Palanivel has yet to win the presidency through an election and is still the acting president.
MIC practices a unique system where the president is picked not by divisional delegates but the 3,700 branch leaders. The party conducts its presidential elections three months before polling to pick a deputy president, three vice presidents and 23 CWC members.
MIC postponed its internal election, which should have been held starting February last year, pending the 13th general election.
Meanwhile in an immediate reaction, Nijhar claimed that the letters were sent via registered mail on June 4.
