By all means let the young leaders rise in MIC. But no gangsters please. And why is Samy Vellu not giving way? Is he a young leader too?

On Drop MIC veterans, Samy Vellu urged

Barathi Tamil: Bring in dynamic and educated young leaders. The main thing MIC should look for in their background is that he or she is an educated person with no gangster connection. I have personally seen an MIC young leader, T Mohan, become very aggressive during the Machap by- election. Are these the kind of people we need? No. We need leaders who have discipline and good manners. Not gangsters.

Why is Samy Vellu not giving way. Is he a young leader too? Twenty-eight years, four terms and still can’t complete his job. What a joke. Let the young ones take over, Samy. We Indians need dynamic, educated, honest and helpful leaders. Please don’t bring in all the young gangsters.

Ramki: If all the veteran MIC leaders were to be dropped and be replaced with younger leaders than a vacuum would be created leaving the party with no direction. Imagine younger leaders like Senator Saravanan.Vel Paari and Vigneswaran leading the MIC. Have we forgotten the Maika AGM where gangsters were brought in?

It is obvious who brought them in and similarly who intimidated and bribed the delegates during the MIC 2006 elections. Among the veterans listed out in the above report, why is Palanivel spared the axe? He has not done anything that the Indians can be proud of.

I think Subra should be brought back into the MIC. It was him and a few others who were doing the check and balance in MIC. If it were not for him and a few opposition members like Kulasegaran, then Maika would have sold all its assets leaving us empty handed.

Subra is a senior MIC member and has strong grassroots support, He can unite the Indians and move the organisation forward.

Simon: It's my sincere feeling that the MIC President Samy Vellu should resign immediately to restore confidence among Malaysians in general and the Indians in particular. There are many good and great reasons for him to do so such as he is getting old (72 years now); to pave the way for the younger generation; because he can’t cope with the current situation; because he has failed to uplift the Indians and because he does not have a strong educational back ground to think and work efficiently.

He has been in politics since 1974 and it’s high time to replace all the MIC veterans including him immediately. There are many young and new potential leaders available to replace the said veterans including him.

A Concerned Indian: I am so very eager to see Samy Vellu leave the political scene for good.

If there's going to any future for the Indian community in this country, it will be without Samy.

Please start a petition soon. I am very sure we can garner massive support to see the end of Samy Vellu.

On Watchdogs dispute EC's 'clean roll' claim

Fairplay: The electoral rolls are clean- so says the Election Commission's secretary. Not so, say Mafrel and Bersih. Kamaruzaman is certainly learning fast. After all, he has two former colleagues as mentors. One rose from secretary to become the present EC chairperson and the other is sitting somewhere in the woodwork waiting to take over the chair.

If Kamaruzaman keeps toeing the line, surely the reward cannot be less than becoming the future EC chairperson and possibly even a Parliamentary Bill to extend his tenure of service. Like his present boss, they have already divined as to who is the most competent coalition to run this country. I am skeptical about Mafrel but Bersih, you have my vote.

Nithiyaavaani: After reading the statistics by Bersih, I still wonder why the EC is hesitating to look into the loopholes in election laws. Bersih is the people's voice against unfair elections in Malaysia. It is very clear that the EC is being controlled by BN leaders.

If the EC wants BN to win, why are they putting us through the melodrama of a mock election? We can just go on the basis of a dictatorship government. We don't need to talk about a democracy if the voice of people is not going to be heard by the EC.

Malaysia is not for BN, it is for the people. The EC should consider this before obeying orders from power-hungry BN leaders.

On Being afraid not a component of democracy

For Change: I am an outsider as far as politics is concerned. However, being a citizen, I'm surprised with all the talk about bringing changes from within Barisan. Almost all the conceivable institutions have been plundered and destroyed during Mahathir's 22-year reign. Abdullah is part of a system that is so settled that it will take decades to unravel.

Why not go for a change? It has happened in many other countries, like the Philippines, Thailand, India, Turkey and even in the US. If they don't like the Republicans, they throw them out and bring in the Democrats. Be bold and if the alternative government does not function as we expect, bring back Barisan in the following election. Hey, People Power means, the rakyat decides.

On Coming soon: Tougher anti-monopoly laws

KSD: I applaud the coming anti-monopoly laws but please, don’t just stop at essential items like cement and cooking oil. Astro, a virtual monopoly, was created with the government’s approval and no competition was allowed. They have been fleecing a majority of Malaysian households for years now.

Do look into creating meaningful competition in that area too. Allow others to offer cable or satellite services and force this monopolist company to divest some channels so that there is equal competition.

I also recently read of one company being given the sole contract to revamp all government websites. That’s a monopoly in my books too.

On Religion: Give Anwar a chance

Francis T Rozario: The growing divide between the Muslims and non-Muslims is the one issue that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must list as his greatest priority for there is a rift and to deny that would be foolhardy for him and his government of Umno-men. The recent snatching of the body of an elderly Chinese man by his eldest son who had converted to Islam is an extremely interesting episode.

The man, though living with this elderly Islamic son, had not converted for he was incapable of being converted without the knowledge of his elderly wife (who was looking after him). It is quite clear that the inheritance of this elderly man played a key role in this case.

It is quite clear that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi - himself a Muslim scholar - has an unseen hand in such manoeuverings in that he has not lifted a finger to intervene in such cases in national interest.