ANALYSIS On Sept 1, G Palanivel was officially elected unopposed as the eighth president of MIC, securing 617 nominations, which translate into support from 3,702 branch chairmen out of 4,000-odd branches. This is indeed a tremendous show of support.
Palanivel's smart and tactical moves made this possible.
His early announcement that he will only stay for one more term as president overwhelmingly doused deputy president Dr S Subramaniam's hopes of mounting a challenge for the presidency as the branch chairmen across the nation felt: "Why should there be a challenge since he is going away in three years. Let's give him the chance!"
About two weeks before nominations, at a closed-door meeting attended by central working committee members and divisional chairmen from all over the country, and at the press conference that followed subsequently, Palanivel reiterated once again that he would step down as president in the first quarter of 2016, paving the way for Subramaniam to take over.
It was also publicly declared that this leadership transition deal was brokered by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself.
This triggered a massive show of support for Palanivel from MIC branch chairmen in terms of filing nomination papers. Even MIC leaders who were openly backing Subramaniam filed nominations for Palanivel and garlanded him on his victory.
Since Palanivel will remain as president for the next three years, every branch and divisional leader wanted to visibly endorse their support for him because political favours if any, will still have to come from him for the next three years.
Even vice-president M Saravanan, one of the first who initiated the campaign to oust Palanivel as president, unanimously passed a resolution at the Wilayah Persekutuan state congress meeting supporting Palanivel.
Due to such a turn of political events, Palanivel received nominations from 3,702 branches and on the very day of his election as president he deviated from his earlier stand and to the cheers of his supporters, declared that he may continue as president beyond 2016 in view of the overwhelming support.
Everyone knows that such a massive show of support was only possible because of Subramaniam's withdrawal from the race coupled with Palanivel's firm commitment that he will serve for one more term only.
Palanivel's sudden U-turn has disheartened Subramaniam's supporters who are now looking for ways and means to prop up support for him to enable him to be returned as deputy president again.
Contest brewing for deputy presidency
Meanwhile, speculations have surfaced that S Sothinathan and Saravanan (right) are looking at the possibility of contesting for deputy presidency against Subramaniam, provided that Palanivel throws his support behind them.
Tamil daily Makkal Osai in its front-page report today (Sept 3) speculated that Sothinathan is eyeing for the deputy presidency and that Saravanan too may join the race.
It could now be Palanivel's turn to take revenge on Subramaniam for wanting to mount a contest against him and for indirectly pressuring him to commit that he will serve only for one more term.
If Palanivel decides to support one of the candidates against Subramaniam, then without doubt it will be an uphill task for Subramaniam to retain his deputy presidency, as he seems to have lost some clout and confidence among delegates because of his withdrawal from the presidential race.
Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/240097
Palanivel's smart and tactical moves made this possible.
His early announcement that he will only stay for one more term as president overwhelmingly doused deputy president Dr S Subramaniam's hopes of mounting a challenge for the presidency as the branch chairmen across the nation felt: "Why should there be a challenge since he is going away in three years. Let's give him the chance!"About two weeks before nominations, at a closed-door meeting attended by central working committee members and divisional chairmen from all over the country, and at the press conference that followed subsequently, Palanivel reiterated once again that he would step down as president in the first quarter of 2016, paving the way for Subramaniam to take over.
It was also publicly declared that this leadership transition deal was brokered by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak himself.
This triggered a massive show of support for Palanivel from MIC branch chairmen in terms of filing nomination papers. Even MIC leaders who were openly backing Subramaniam filed nominations for Palanivel and garlanded him on his victory.
Since Palanivel will remain as president for the next three years, every branch and divisional leader wanted to visibly endorse their support for him because political favours if any, will still have to come from him for the next three years.
Even vice-president M Saravanan, one of the first who initiated the campaign to oust Palanivel as president, unanimously passed a resolution at the Wilayah Persekutuan state congress meeting supporting Palanivel.
Due to such a turn of political events, Palanivel received nominations from 3,702 branches and on the very day of his election as president he deviated from his earlier stand and to the cheers of his supporters, declared that he may continue as president beyond 2016 in view of the overwhelming support.
Everyone knows that such a massive show of support was only possible because of Subramaniam's withdrawal from the race coupled with Palanivel's firm commitment that he will serve for one more term only.
Palanivel's sudden U-turn has disheartened Subramaniam's supporters who are now looking for ways and means to prop up support for him to enable him to be returned as deputy president again.
Contest brewing for deputy presidency
Meanwhile, speculations have surfaced that S Sothinathan and Saravanan (right) are looking at the possibility of contesting for deputy presidency against Subramaniam, provided that Palanivel throws his support behind them.Tamil daily Makkal Osai in its front-page report today (Sept 3) speculated that Sothinathan is eyeing for the deputy presidency and that Saravanan too may join the race.
It could now be Palanivel's turn to take revenge on Subramaniam for wanting to mount a contest against him and for indirectly pressuring him to commit that he will serve only for one more term.
If Palanivel decides to support one of the candidates against Subramaniam, then without doubt it will be an uphill task for Subramaniam to retain his deputy presidency, as he seems to have lost some clout and confidence among delegates because of his withdrawal from the presidential race.
Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/240097
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