July 21 – Sources close to MIC’s former Vice President Datuk S.Sothinathan said that he is still contemplating whether to accept Palanivel’s appointment as a member of MIC’s Central working committee.
This is because the party elections are only about two months away and there is no real political advantage for Sothinathan to accept the appointment at this hour. Furthermore, he may lose his leverage in the presidential election against the likely candidates Palanivel and Subramaniam.
The possibility of Sothi declining to accept CWC appointment came to light when ‘Nam Naadu’, a Tamil daily reported yesterday that ‘when contacted Sothi refused to comment about the CWC appointment’. This indicates that he is still contemplating whether to accept the offer from Palanivel.
Sothi, a force to reckon with….
Sothi is seen as a force to reckon with, in the battle for MIC’s presidency as he polled 280 votes against two mighty party stalwarts in 2009 party election for Deputy President. So having Sothi on their side would definitely be an advantage to the presidential hopefuls.
However, a close supporter of Sothi said Sothi is concerned that by accepting CWC appointment he would be branded as Palanivel’s man, a tag which he wants to avoid so early given the fact that the nomination is only the 1st of September. MIC’s political turf is also still uncertain as to which candidate has the advantage in the race for presidency.
Furthermore, Sothi is already comfortable of winning as one of the 3 Vice Presidents should he decide to offer himself for that post. So accepting a CWC member appointment only for about 3 months until party elections in November is not a big advantage for him and will only weaken him politically.
In fact he would gain more sympathy from party delegates as an outsider since he is seen as a good party leader who has been marginalized by Palanivel. Sothi had been working and campaigning in Teluk Kemang for the last five years with the hope of getting the seat in GE-13 but Palanivel instead chose Dato V.S.Mohan for that seat.
Sothi weighing all possibilities….
One of the branch chairmen from Teluk Kemang close to Sothi said: “Sothi is upset with Palanivel for ignoring him for the Teluk Kemang seat. That issue of misunderstanding must be settled first. We also understand that there have been no clear indications from Palanivel so far, as to Sothi’s role after presidential elections. Is Palanivel supporting Sothi as a candidate for Deputy President or Vice President? If Palanivel, after winning his presidency chooses to remain neutral in the party’s national elections scheduled in November then Sothi will be caught in a political lurch as he would be left alone to defend himself for whichever post he contests. Dr.Subra’s supporters will not support him for taking a stand against Dr Subra in presidential election. Furthermore Dr Subra’s camp has already identified their potential candidates for all the key positions. So why Sothi should accept the CWC appointment now and spoil all his goodwill with Subra-Saravanan supporters?”
By declining Palanivel’s offer to join CWC, Sothi would be able to show that he is still “available” to both camps and would be able to negotiate his own terms and conditions for joining whichever camp he chooses, the supporter further said.
