The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) party elections slated for this year looks set to be a tame affair with all top leaders, including Youth chiefs, returning uncontested to their respective posts.

The o­nly remaining battle is for the 23 seats at stake at the powerful Central Working Committee (CWC) - which assists the top leaders to run the party. Elections for these seats are due this Saturday.

The fight for the 23 spots are heating up with a local daily labeling it as "Group of 23 versus the independents".

This is because 23 aspirants, made up of 21 incumbents and two newcomers, have formed an alliance to counter the opposition mounted by 11 independents, including a sole female contender.

The 'Group of 23' has the blessings of the three incumbent vice-presidents S Veerasingam, G Palanivel and KS Nijhar as well as reportedly the tacit support of party president S Samy Vellu.

United team

With the general elections to be held before the end of next year, it is imperative for the president to have a united team behind him. The party had already indicated its wishes to have more seats in the forthcoming elections.

At present, MIC - the largest and oldest Indian-based party in the country - holds seven parliamentary and 13 state seats. It has 585,000 members with 4,500 branches nationwide.

The party has always performed remarkably in previous general elections, turning in almost 100 percent victory. The o­nly blots were the two by-election defeats in Teluk Kemang (Negeri Sembilan) and Lunas (Kedah), both in 2000.

Thus there is nothing wrong with Samy Vellu confidently claiming that he has already identified his candidates and is sure of their victory in the general elections.

For this to happen, the president must have in place a group of people who will listen to him and toe his line. He does not want a loose cannon, or a candidate who could become bigheaded and decide to do things differently.

This is the reason why Samy Vellu, who is also works minister, prefers the same group of people at the top.

For him, continuity at party stage will ensure the smooth running of his policies, programmes and schemes, that will uplift the Indian community.

No changes

However many fear that as in the past, this 'new team'- made of up old faces - will not achieve much in taking the Indian community out of the doldrums.

Why? The primary reason is simple. They are made up of leaders who will not lead but merely follow Samy Vellu. This is due to the fear of falling out of favour if they are seen as trying to outdo the president.

If MIC - the self-proclaimed guardian of the Indian community in this country - wants to see a marked improvement in the community then it should allow new faces and new ideas to come forward. And the best place to start will be the party elections.

Samy Vellu has been at the helm since 1979 and o­n March 8 this year, the 67-year-old president was elected to lead the party for an unprecedented ninth consecutive term for another three years.

Close o­n his heels is his deputy since 1981, S Subramaniam, who was returned unopposed for a fourth consecutive term o­n May 1.

Subramaniam himself had learnt the bitter lesson of opposing Samy Vellu in 1989 when he contested for the top post.

Although he lost narrowly in that contest, he paid the price of challenging the president by being dropped out of the party's list of candidates for the 1990 general elections.

Subsequently a compromise with Samy Vellu saw Subramaniam's appointment as senator in 1991 and he returned to the deputy post again in that year.

Change essential

Though many still expect Subramaniam to o­ne day lead MIC, Samy Vellu has yet to set a date to relinquish his hold o­n the party.

Any MIC member will be ready to vouch that in the past 24 years Samy Vellu has done much for the party and its members but the person would also agree that a change in leadership is essential for the party to function in the 21st century.

There was a slight hope that a tough fight was o­n the cards for the vice president post when Federal Territory MIC deputy chairperson VKK Teagarajan filed his nomination paper o­n May 1 by defying the wishes of the numero uno.

However he surprised many when he pulled out of the race later in the same day, allowing the three incumbents to be elected unopposed. Although Teagarajan had said that his pullout was to ensure unity in the party, many believe that behind-the-scenes pressure from Samy Vellu was the real reason for it.

It must be remembered that Samy Vellu has openly endorsed his deputy Subramaniam as well as the three incumbent vice-presidents o­n the grounds that they should be retained "to ensure continuity in the party".

Potential leaders

A veteran in MIC politics, Teagarajan not o­nly lost his shot at the top leadership, but also faces the risk of being left out in the cold altogether as he had not submitted nomination to retain his CWC seat which he has held for 12 years.

One would have expected Teagarajan to create an impact at the top since his main agenda to contest for the post was to contribute to the economic development of the Indian community.

He was well positioned to do that based o­n his experience as a successful businessman as well as a former president of the Malaysian Indian chamber of commerce. He is now the president of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Indian chamber of commerce and industry.

For the CWC posts, it is very likely that the1,497 delegates attending the MIC annual conference over the weekend will elect the 'Group of 23' endorsed by Samy Vellu.

The fact that there are two new faces - lawyer S Ganesan and FT state secretary M Saravanan - in this group is the o­nly bright spark in this year's party polls.

Of the two, Saravanan is seen by many as the o­ne with potential to lead the party o­ne day. At 34, Saravanan, a Senator and an appointed CWC member, will be the youngest in the committee.

Maybe the next polls would hopefully see more younger leaders moving up. Till then don't expect any significant changes in the Indian community.