MIC's new senate post: The BIG picture

All of a sudden, a senate appointment in MIC is triggering a controversy among party leaders and there seems to be sense of dejection and unhappiness among the grassroots. This might lead to further erosion of confidence and support in the leadership of party president S Samy Vellu.

The senate seat currently held by MIC Serdang division chairperson S Rawisandran is due to expire in January 2010. Rawisandran, an ardent supporter of MIC deputy president G Palanivel, is keen in continuing with his position for a second term but it has become almost certain that he would not get his 'renewal certificate' from the president.

The two names mentioned as likely candidates to replace him are P Kamalanathan (MIC putera chief) and a new face P Amarendran.

Kamalanathan ( left ) has been serving as MIC Putera chief for some time and newcomer Amarendran is said to have caught the attention of Samy Vellu through his 're-invent' concept to rebuild the party and his work during the recent MIC seminar on 'sense of urgency'.

Both choices are causing concern among the party’s rank and file as both are newcomers and inexperienced. Furthermore, at this crucial hour, there is a need to strengthen the party machinery by recognising and promoting long serving and capable divisional and state level leaders who would then work hard to ensure that the party gets back its respect and former glory.

Appointing newcomers while bypassing or sidelining senior leaders might not go down well with the grassroots as the opportunities available for divisional leaders have shrunk since key states were taken over by the opposition in the 2008 general election.

For example, MIC divisional leaders were usually appointed to town and district councils through the state administrations but that is not forthcoming now in Penang, Kedah and Selangor which are held by the opposition.

So, when there is an opportunity for a senate appointment, dropping current divisional leaders who have worked long for the party and appointing in their place, newcomers not holding an elected position in the party, is causing a sense of unhappiness and dejection among party cadres.

Divisional leaders act as a bridge between the party and the community and are working hard to keep the fortunes of the party from dwindling further. But with such developments they feel they are being sidelined by the leadership.

It is not that the young and capable newcomers should not be given an opportunity but that opportunity could come in other forms such as party positions or positions within the party institutions such as YSS (Yayasan Strategik Sosial). They can be trained at various levels in the party before assuming government positions.

What will happen to Palanivel?

However, what is adding more flavour to the new senate appointment is that the choice of the new senator has also posed some doubts about the leadership transition of MIC and has raised questions whether Samy Vellu is seriously considering stepping down as president in favour of Palanivel.

Initially, there were speculations that Palanivel would be appointed as a senator replacing Rawisandran and would return to the cabinet either replacing Dr S Subramaniam (current minister for human resources) or as an additional minister for MIC.

Palanivel himself was said to be keen in this proposal as this would give him an opportunity to strengthen his position and prepare him for the leadership transition.

After the 2008 general election, although the BN leadership initially followed a policy of not bringing back defeated leaders into the cabinet by appointing them as senators, two key leaders later found their way into the cabinet through such appointments. One is Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon and the other is Wanita Umno leader Sharizat Abdul Jalil.

So many in MIC believed that Palanivel would also be appointed since he is the duly elected deputy president of MIC for two consecutive terms.

Furthermore, Samy Vellu's continued statements that he would soon relinquish his position added fuel to the speculations that Palanivel would be soon brought into the cabinet to prepare for the leadership transition.

However, the fact that Palanivel is not being nominated for the senate while his ardent supporter Rawisandran is also being replaced as a senator has posed doubts whether Samy Vellu is really interested in strengthening Palanivel's position in the party let alone handing over the leadership reins.

Commenting on this, a Palanivel supporter said: "The next vacancy for a senate in MIC is coming up in only April 2010 and if Samy Vellu is not prepared to give it to Palanivel in January then there is no certainty that he would do so in April."

"With all other senate positions for MIC falling vacant only in 2011, the only option left for Palanivel is to return to a government position by winning a seat in the next general election which is going to be a tough battle for all MIC candidates wherever they choose to contest," he added.

Vel Paari as secretary-general?

Party insiders believe that Samy Vellu is not prepared to bring back Palanivel as a minister or deputy minister by appointing him as a senator at this stage because it would only strengthen his position in the party and would add additional pressure on Samy Vellu to step down in favour of Palanivel.

There are already widespread speculations that Samy Vellu might soon promote his son Vel Paari to a prominent position in the party and prepare him for future leadership succession in the party.

One party source said that there is also a possibility that current secretary- general S Murugesan might be appointed as the new senator and Samy Vellu's son Vel Paari could become the next secretary- general replacing Murugesan.

In the present context, leaving the elected deputy president Palanivel without any government position for about two years until the next general election would only weaken him further and this would only benefit Dr Subramaniam who as the sole cabinet minister would be able to move and strengthen his position as a vice president of the party.

One senior MIC leader said: "There are so many hidden implications in the appointment of the next new senator. Since he is not in the cabinet, Samy Vellu is trying to keep all the leaders below him at bay by a balancing act, thereby keeping them weak in one way or another."

"One is a deputy president but without a government position. The other is the sole cabinet minister for MIC but in the party he is only one of the three vice- presidents."

"Why can't things be streamlined when there is an opportunity now? It is because Samy Vellu wants it in such a way that at the end of the day nobody has the real political muscle or say in the party against him."

"This shows that Samy Vellu is determined to continue as president as long as he wants and there could be many more hidden agendas in his mind before he departs as president."

Some party insiders claim that what Samy Vellu aims to do is to stay on as president until the 13th general election so that he would be able to select his own choice of candidates for the general election.

He is also hoping that given the present favourable conditions under the leadership of Najib Abdul Razak, Barisan Nasional would once again win big and with that, MIC candidates would be able to fare better, allowing him to take a piece of the credit.

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R Mutharasan is an observer and writer on Malaysian politics and Indian issues. He is the web-master of www.indiantoday.net and has also authored the book ' Winning Strategies of Anwar Ibrahim '.