PETALING JAYA, AUG 24- On Thursday, MIC president G Palanivel said he will continue to lead the party until March 2016 before handing over the reigns to his deputy Dr S Subramaniam.
Flanked by former president S Samy Vellu and Dr Subramaniam, the MIC chief with the announcement doused all talk of a contest for the president’s post, which was supposed to have had its nomination on Sept 1 and polling on Sept 22.
Before the announcement, the party was abuzz with talk that Dr Subramaniam, who is also Health Minister, will take on Palanivel for the top post.
Dr Subramaniam had even met MIC branch leaders nationwide and it was an open secret that the deputy president was getting good response from the grassroots.
However, this came to a end after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak brokered a deal to avoid a split in the party.
Sources said Dr Subramaniam agreed to the deal only because it was mooted by Najib, who is also the Barisan Nasional chief.
Although Palanivel insisted that there were no conditions or compromise reached between the top two MIC leaders, he admitted that it was Najib to helped avert a contest for the party’s top post.
Palanivel’s reasoning for the “no contest” was rather hard to buy.
The Natural Resources and Environment Minister said the party’s top two positions would not see challenge because “there were no strong challengers” for the party president and deputy president’s post.
If Palanivel was strong, why not hold on to power until the term ends? Why just the “extra” two-and-half years? Palanivel has yet to explain why he needs the 30 months before giving up the post?
He has promised to relinquish the post six months before his term ends. He would hand over the reigns of the party to Dr Subramaniam on March 26, 2016.
But there are many questions unanswered. How will the party be run from now? Are we looking at a joint management by both Palanivel and Dr Subramaniam?
Who will pick the MIC candidates for the next general election, which is expected from mid-2017 to 2018? If it is Dr Subramaniam who will be picking the candidates, then party leaders vying for seats would definitely demonstrate undivided loyalty for Dr Subramaniam from now.
The other conditions
In this scenario, where will it leave Palanivel for the next two-and-half years? Will the deal benefit the party and the hard-to-please Malaysian Indian community?
It is believed that there are other conditions attached to the deal. According to party sources, they are:
- A senator’s post to former central working committee (CWC) member S Vell Paari, the son of Samy Vellu;
- No new branches until 2016 and a review of all branches set up this year. This condition will ensure Dr Subramaniam takes full control of the party when he becomes president in 2016; and
- Dr Subramaniam and his supporters must give full cooperation to Palanivel’s leadership for the next 30 months.
All of the above is fine in politics. But how is this deal or leadership change going to improve the live of an ordinary Malaysian Indian. Will the deal benefit the community in any way?
Sadly, the answer to this question is a big NO.
Since taking over from Samy Vellu in 2010, Palanivel has been slow in implementing programmes to rejuvenate the party and instil confidence in the community. His deputy has also joined the same boat.
Expectation were high as both were given ministerial positions by Najib. For the first time in recent history, MIC has two ministers. But so far this has not brought any benefit to the community.
Since his appointment, Palanivel, termed as the silent president by many in the party, and Dr Subramaniam have not delivered anything substantial for the community.
From education to social, there is no improvement in the last three years although Indians have two ministers in the cabinet.
Issues like bickering between MIC leaders over the 2,000 acres of land given to Tamil schools in Perak, the failure to utilise RM200mil given to uplift Tamil schools in the last two budgets, the difficulty for Indian students to obtain matriculation seats and entrance to public-funded universities, just to name a few issues are yet to be resolved by the leaders.
The pertinent question is if they did not do anything in the last three years, what can be achieved in the next two-and-half years?
Is the deal just to ensure these two leaders stay in power?
Community to lost out?
From the surface, it looks like the deal was mooted to ensure Palanivel stayed in power, while Dr Subramaniam prepares to take the MIC throne.
All the politicking in the party until 2016 will sideline the community. MIC and its leaders must realise that the party survives because of the community and not the other way around.
MIC must put aside its internal woes and start serving the community, if the BN is serious in wanting Indian votes in the 14th general election.
It should come up with concrete plans for the community. The plan must touch on various aspects from social, economy to education and employment for Indians.
It should also place extra attention to the younger generation who would play a crucial role in the next general election.
In order to achieve this, the party would need active leaders who have the interest of the community at heart. And until this leader or leaders takeover, the future looks bleak not only for MIC but the Indian community.
