Piqued Indian Malaysian members to quit Keadilan: Youth leader

comments     Susan Loone     Published     Updated

Several Indian Malaysian members are expected to follow Keadilan Youth leader S Manikavasagam's decision to quit the party within the next few days.

The Youth exco member told malaysiakini that he will submit his resignation letter this evening.

Manikavasagam said at least three more members from the Ampang Jaya branch in Selangor will hand in their letters either today or tomorrow.

He added that they were disgruntled with the party's treatment of its Indian Malaysian members.

He said he decided to quit following Youth deputy chief Saifuddin Nasution Ismail's speech during the wing's annual meet two weeks earlier that allegedly attacked party supreme council member N Gobalakrishnan (photo).

"This intra-party attacks against one another is really bad. Gobala has sacrificed a lot for the party,"said Manikavasagam, who is also Keadilan Selangor Youth chief*.

"I have made up my mind and will hand in my resignation to the party today," he added.

In his speech, Saifuddin was said to have criticised Gobalakrishnan for not attending meetings and not contributing to the party's developments.

In a report in The Star today, Manikavasagam had urged all Indian Malaysian members in the party to resign en bloc .

He said he had wasted four years in a party which does not respect or take its Indian Malaysian representation seriously.

He added it was pointless for these members to continue "hanging on" in Keadilan when party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has not taken the slightest initiative to appoint an Indian Malaysian vice-president as promised.

Allegations refuted

In an immediate response, Saifuddin denied that the party did not care about the welfare of its Indian Malaysian members.

He instead accused Manikavasagam of slacking in his responsibility to organise programmes to woo more Indian Malaysian members since he was elected into the exco last year.

"He never came up with any proposals. Every time there was a Youth meeting, he would say that he was still looking into the matter. He hardly says anything," said wing's deputy chief.

Saifuddin also refuted the allegation that the party did not take any initiative to appoint Indian Malaysians to top leadership positions.

"I have elected two Indian Malaysians to the Youth exco since the last AGM and they are supposed to assist Manikavasagam with the programmes (to woo more members)," he added.

He said that he will have a "heart to heart" talk with Manikavasagam regarding the matter.

Be patient

Meanwhile, supreme council member Dr Xavier Jeyakumar advised members who were upset to be patient and not expect change overnight since Keadilan is a relatively new party.

He said that he has spoken to Manikavasagam and heard his side of the story.

"Imagine what will happen if every time someone is dissatisfied, he or she leaves the party. If this happens, then I think we are only out for personal gains.

"Intra-party squabbles should be solved within the party," he stressed when contacted.

Jeyakumar also rebutted Manikavasagam's claim, which appeared in The Star report, that no Keadilan lawyers had come to his rescue when he was detained by the police last month for distributing anti-Internal Security Act pamphlets.

"PRM vice-president and lawyer R Sivarasa and myself was there with him at the police station,"

"Manikavasagam should take action against the police for punitive detention instead of criticising us for his one night stay in jail," he said.

Don't resign

In a related development, Gobalakrishnan said he disagreed with Manikavasagam's call to all Indian Malaysian members in the party to resign.

"This is bad. All Indian Malaysians should stay in the party and support the party president, who has given us all so much encouragement to continue this struggle," he said.

He also urged Saifuddin and vice-president Azmin Ali to consolidate all members in the face of this crisis.

"We should not forget that our real enemy is BN (Barisan Nasional)," he added.

However, Gobalakrishnan said the criticism levelled against him by Saifuddin and several other delegates during the wing's meet was "unbecoming".

He said the attacks came after he commented that the Youth wing was not as effective compared to when it was under the leadership of Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor.

Mohd Ezam and several other Keadilan leaders were detained under the ISA last year for allegedly wanting to topple the government through militant means, a charge which they have denied.

He is currently serving a two-year jail term for breaching the Officials Secrets Act by exposing classified documents to the media regarding a graft probe into two ruling politicians.


*Erratum: It has been pointed

out to us on Oct 31 that S Manikavasagam is not the Selangor Keadilan Youth chief. We regret the error.


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