Samy Vellu has invited the Indian Progressive Front (IPF) to merge with his party in a bid to unite the Indian community. He also said the MIC was inviting all former IPF members to join the party.

"We will give them the due respect and treat them like our brothers," the MIC president said in a statement which was carried by Bernama today.

ipf congress 010707 confetti Samy Vellu said he would write to IPF president Jayashree, the wife of the late MG Pandithan ( photo: making peace in 2007) who led the IPF before his demise last May, on a possible merger.

The IPF, which claims to have almost 250,000 members, is said to be facing a leadership tussle after Jayashree expelled and suspended several top leaders and members, including the party's deputy president V Senggutuan, vice president V Mathiyalagan and Youth chief R Ravi Shankar.

Samy Vellu's gesture comes two days after the MIC quashed the party's Disciplinary Committee's decision to expel former MIC vice-president M Muthupalaniappan for allegedly making statements deemed detrimental to the party's interest and on the same day, Samy Vellu announced that the party would re-admit former MIC members in stages.

Move with the winds of change

Observers noted that the recent developments indicated the MIC was becoming "more open".

Samy Vellu said the MIC was sincere in its attempt to unite all Indians and the Indians could not afford to be divided anymore.

"The time has come for the Indians to unite as a strong force," he said.

Samy Vellu said the political scenario had changed "and we have to move and act with the winds of change".

samy vellu exclusive on tamil schools 080708 02 "We have to ride along the tide," he said, adding that the Indians being a small community numbering about 1.8 million in Malaysia, were now divided into a few political parties.

He said only by uniting could the Indian community attain a strong "bargaining power", adding that he was prepared to work with anybody for the sake of Indian unity.

In another development, Samy Vellu said he will announce the handing over of party presidency at an appropriate time to whoever is elected as the deputy president in the party elections in September.

"As I have stated earlier, my mission now is to strengthen the party and then hand it over to the (incoming) deputy president," he said when asked to comment on a front-page report in a Tamil daily today that he might relinquish his post in August this year.

The report quoted Samy Vellu as saying that he would relinquish his post in the third quarter of this year.

No time frame to step down

He also confirmed in a Bernama report today that there was no specific time frame set for the handover of power.

Samy Vellu said he would consult party members first before deciding when to call it a day.

The MIC will hold its triennial elections for the post of deputy president, three vice-presidents and central working committee g palanivel members in September this year.

The current MIC deputy president is G Palanivel ( right ).

It is understood that there would be an intense battle for the party's number two post with former deputy president S Subramaniam expected to join the fray.

The other contenders could be MIC vice-president S Sothinathan and Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam.

The presidential election is held separately and could be held in May or June this year. Samy Vellu had announced that he would defend his post which he held since 1979.