It may not be so easy for PPP president M Kayveas to remove sacked PPP supreme council member T Murugiah as deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

murugiah pc roadshow 300509 letters A Barisan Nasional source told Malaysiakini today that three factors could thwart Kayveas’ move to kill Murugiah's (left) political career.

The source argued that the palace may not entertain the thought of removing Murugiah as senator and replacing him with another of Kayveas’ men, thereby enabling PPP to retain the deputy minister's post.

“The palace may insist that Murugiah should complete his three-year term of office as in the case of Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon, when he wanted to replace vice-president S Vijayaratnam as senator after the March 8 general election,” he argued.

lim guan eng koh tsu koon penang land scandal issue 220409 koh tsu koon “Vijayaratnam had a few more months to complete his tenure. However, Koh (right) was in a hurry to become a minister by the back door and made the application to the palace which rejected the switch."

The source said he thinks the palace will do the same in the case of Murugiah.

“The Gods must have been smiling on Koh then. After Vijayaratnam's death , Koh achieved his ambition of becoming a minister by taking the Gerakan quota for senatorship.”

Other reasons

The source further argued that Murugiah has strengthened his relationship with Hishammuddin Hussein. The two go back to the days when they headed the Youth wing of their respective parties.

“There is an indication that Hishammuddin may favour Murugiah over Kayveas,” he claimed.

He said Murugiah is also in the good books of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who sees Murugiah as a potential candidate in wooing Indian youths back into the BN.

Najib has been quoted as saying that it is the premier's prerogative to select his cabinet members and that he is happy with the work done by Murugiah as deputy minister.