Saravanan, Devamany confident of winning MIC No 2 post
Two candidates contesting the MIC deputy president post at the party's re-election on Nov 6, are banking on their contribution and experience in the party to enable delegates to evaluate them when making their choice for the number two post.
MIC president Dr S Subramaniam yesterday announced the straight fight between incumbent vice-president M Saravanan and Perak state legislative assembly speaker, SK Devamany.
Saravanan said he was confident of winning the number two post because he had always worked hard for the Indian-based party.
"I believe I can win. A total of 1,500 MIC delegates are already sure who they should vote for," he told reporters after he was named a candidate for the MIC deputy president post at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The youth and sports deputy minister said the contest was going to be a close fight but it would give a new image to the MIC which required competition for transformation.
Meanwhile, Devamany ( photo ) was equally confident due to his vast experience in the political arena.
The former vice-president also said the party needed transformation in its party leadership to bring back MIC's glory days.
"I am in the contest by virtue of the 2009 Central Working Committee (CWC) hierarchy… after the president, Dr S Subramaniam, I am the number two leader," he said.
In the contest for the three vice-president posts in the 2009 party election, Subramaniam received the most votes with 1,260 votes, followed by Devamany (1,122 votes) and Saravanan 1,030 votes.
In the 2013 election, Devamany only managed to obtain 332 votes to put him at seventh place out of the eight candidates vying for the vice-president's post while Saravanan came second with 716 votes.
MIC re-election to be held on Nov 6
However, the Registrar of Societies cancelled the 2013 election due to irregularities in the selection process and appointed the 2009 CWC to conduct the re-election next month.
The MIC re-election is scheduled for Nov 6, which would be followed with the annual general meeting, the next day, at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang in Serdang.
In another development, S Sunther, a son of former MIC deputy president S Subramaniam, whose nomination paper for the vice-president's post was rejected, said he would appeal to the 2009 CWC.
Sunther's nomination was rejected by Dr Subramanian as it did not comply with a criteria set in Article 59.1 of the party's constitution, which states that candidates for the position must be a member of the party for at least five years.
Two former Youth chiefs, T Mohan and SA Vigneswaran, MIC information chief, VS Mogan and former MIC treasurer-general Jaspal Singh will contest the three vice-president seats at the re-election.
- Bernama
For more news and views that matter, subscribe and support independent media for only RM0.36 sen a day:
Subscribe now