June 9 — July 10 is fast emerging as D-Day for embattled 74-year-old MIC president, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.That is when he has been told he must leave, in more ways than one – obliquely, politely and even roughly to his face.But the veteran politician is holding on against all odds and wants to stay another year — or at least until September 2011 — to give time for him and his cabal to presumably re-organise the party and hand over power to his chosen successor.
His critics say that by re-organising the party, he can still play kingmaker from behind the scenes after retirement. Re-organising the MIC, they say, also ensures his son, Vell Paari, can have a political career.
To keep critics at bay, Samy Vellu has offered a concession — he will leave a few months earlier, but only if he is treated well and offered a high-profile government posting.But his critics, both in the MIC and outside, refuse to play ball and are adamant that he must step down on July 10 and the reason is that they don’t want him to “re-arrange” the party and stay in power after retirement.
A new, hard-line tone has also crept into the campaign to pressure him to step down by then.He must leave or face the consequences, MIC sources told The Malaysian Insider. The consequences could range from, according to MIC sources, “unsavoury” revelations of scandals by expelled deputy MIC Youth chief V. Mugilan or even charges in court over a number of issues ranging from Maika Holdings to the nine million Telekom shares the government had allocated to the Indian community.Mugilan’s Gerakan Anti-Samy Vellu, or GAS, is pressing hard for Samy Vellu to step down. While the first GAS gathering was not a major success, they have made the point that it is not “business as usual” for Samy Vellu.They are planning more anti-Samy Vellu rallies and will soon release a CD detailing all of Samy Vellu’s “misdeeds.”
The mainstream media is also giving extensive coverage to GAS activities, indicating they have official sanction to harass and hound Samy Vellu into stepping down.
These tactics are sure to take a toll on the MIC veteran.
Furthermore, the government is ramping up its “go now” plan for Samy Vellu by not giving the party president his due status and weight at government and Barisan Nasional (BN) functions, further isolating the president and his supporters.He is not treated with the respect and decorum that was his due before.
His decisions and recommendations are largely ignored, and a glaring example was how Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak picked Samy Vellu’s deputy, Datuk G. Palanivel, as senator and deputy minister without Samy Vellu’s blessings.The cold shoulder treatment sends a clear signal to the veteran president that he is unwanted.
It also tells the MIC rank-and-file that the government and BN want him out of the way so that the long-awaited MIC transformation process can take place under a new leader.With him and his faction out of the way, the MIC can open its doors to all the people expelled by Samy Vellu during his 32-year rule, estimated at over 100,000 by his former deputy, Datuk S. Subramaniam.With the stakes piled up against him and increasing by the day, the question is: How long can Samy Vellu hold off the pressure on him to step down?
That is the question on the minds of the MIC rank-and-file after a month of grandstanding between the party president and his many critics.In the end, the question might be irrelevant because the MIC has itself become irrelevant in the eyes of the Indian community.
Most Indians have long given up on the party, believing it is unable to uphold and defend the interests and rights of the community.They voted for the Pakatan Rakyat in Election 2008, but since then, there is now unhappiness with the federal opposition for doing little to lift the Indian community from their doldrums of poverty and unskilled labour in an economy overrun by cheap foreign workers.Many are beginning to see in Najib an answer to their woes. They see him as the one man who could lift them out of their economic and social quagmire with special government assistance.
Najib, Samy Vellu’s critics say, is willing to help but the MIC must transform.“In fact, he has helped and he has said he would do more but Samy Vellu is in the way... has always been in the way,” Mugilan said.
Mugilan believes 80 per cent of the Indians would return to the MIC and BN but only if Samy Vellu steps down.“He is the real problem...he is hated, despised and rejected. Without him we can have a very successful MIC truly representing all the Indians in this country,” he said. “That’s why we are on this GAS campaign to force him out.”
Source : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/
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