To unsuspecting observers, the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) convention held last Sunday in Shah Alam was proof that the party and Barisan Nasional (BN) are 'united' for the coming general election.

This is because the 9,000-strong meeting ended with the traditional pledges of support for its president S Samy Vellu as well as his Umno counterpart and new prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. ( photo )

However, behind the rhetoric of 'unity' is the reality that there are continuing and simmering intra- as well as inter-party power struggles and personality clashes within the ruling front.

For example, in his winding-up speech at the rally, Samy Vellu ( photo ) attacked his long-time nemesis and president of the pro-BN Indian Progressive Front (IPF) president M G Pandithan of "lying" and being a "rascal".

Coffin protest

Originally an MIC leader, Pandithan seems to have become more sophisticated in the13 years after he carried a coffin to the party headquarters and staged a hunger strike in the late1980s to protest against the alleged highhandedness of Samy in disciplining him and his supporters.

Soon later, Pandithan ( left ) formed IPF and joined then opposition front - Gagasan Rakyat - led by a high-profile Umno dissident, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. ( right )

However, IPF left the opposition front after the 1990 general election when it failed to perform well. Since then, the splinter party has been attempting to join BN - of which MIC is a founding member.

It is clear that MIC has consistently blocked IPF's application although Pandithan managed to invite Abdullah to open his party convention once.

In the realist politics within the ruling front, it is only natural for MIC to block IPF from joining. Besides the personality clash, there is also the insistence that MIC is the sole and legitimate representative of Indian Malaysians within BN and the government.

From the MIC viewpoint, its raison d'etre would be greatly undermined if IPF is allowed into BN - as much as Gerakan has consistently threatened MCA's claim to be Umno's sole Chinese partner.

However from IPF's perspective, Samy's MIC has not "done enough" for the Indian Malaysian community - therefore, IPF's admission into the ruling coalition could help "strengthen" the Indian voice in the government.

As a former high-ranking MIC leader, Pandithan knows he cannot attack MIC as a whole. Wisely, he only challenges the president's faction, knowing that there is an anti-Samy faction within it.

Technocratic rival

It is at this point that Samy's long-time rival, deputy president S Subramaniam comes into the picture.

Subramaniam ( photo ) is a well-known and has been a long-time rival of the president. As early as 1977 when MIC was still under the presidency of the late V Manikavasagam, Subramaniam had already confronted Samy in the contest for deputy president's post.

Samy won and became president in 1979 after Manikavasagam passed away, and Subramaniam continued to stay as a standing rival within MIC.

Unlike Samy and Pandithan who are perceived to be passion-inflaming leaders and controllers of working-class members, supporters and followers, the university-educated Subramaniam appears to be more technocratic.

Seen in this light, Subramaniam and Pandithan are natural allies at the moment because their interests have converged over the attempt to oust Samy.

Assuming that the duo succeed, the relationship between MIC and IPF within the Umno-dominated BN may change to mirror that which exists between MCA and Gerakan.

New alliance

How does the president of the Indian-based People's Progressive Party (PPP) M Kayveas fit into this scheme of things?

Initially, it seemed that Kayveas ( photo ) was a critic of Samy and MIC because it was to his interest to discredit them as much as possible to gain more Indian support and higher degree of legitimacy within BN.

But this calculation also seems to have changed after the perceived Pandithan-Subramaniam alliance was formed.

It is now in Kayveas' interest to side with Samy because the entry of the mass-based IPF and a post-Samy and reformed MIC under Subramaniam could further dilute the influence of Kayveas and PPP in BN.

Among the major protagonists of Indian Malaysian politics, Kayveas is certainly the weakest in the league.

Unwittingly or otherwise, Kayveas also seems to have been caught in the crossfire between MCA and Gerakan and is seen to be pro-Gerakan.

Under these circumstances, Kayveas is wise and flexible enough to switch his role from critic to defender of the MIC president.

Whether the speculation of a MIC-PPP merger is realisable or not in the long run, a Samy-Kayveas alliance could serve as a counterweight to that between Subramaniam and Pandithan in the short term.

With the support and patronage of Samy, Kayveas can also hope to maintain his position as a deputy minister. PPP has not been allocated any seats in the previous few elections and Kayveas himself is not an elected member of Parliament but an appointed a senator.

Numerical strength

Given the numerical strength shown by Samy's MIC to Umno and Abdullah, it can be reasoned that, at least for the coming general election, both Samy and Kayveas will be safe.

Subramaniam and Pandithan will have to wait a little longer, at least, after the next general election to realise their dreams.

If Umno comes out of the polls stronger and Samy's MIC weaker, then the future of Subramaniam and Pandithan are bright. Otherwise, the duo may be forced to wait much longer.

Like his Gerakan counterpart Dr Lim Keng Yaik ( photo ), Samy has pledged to serve "as long as the party and people want him".

If Samy (and Lim) are bold enough not to accept former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's public 'advice' for them to retire, who else in BN and the government can ask them to do so? It is that simple.

Moreover, the new Umno president and prime minister has many juggling acts to perform within his own party first.

JAMES WONG WING ON is chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia (SAM). Wong is a former member of Parliament (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily (now Sin Chew Daily ). He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew , he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.