Samy Vellu’s day of reckoning
COMMENTARY, June 9 — July 10 is fast emerging as D-Day for embattled 74-year-old MIC president, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.
That is when he has been told he must leave, in more ways than one – obliquely, politely and even roughly to his face.
But the veteran politician is holding on against all odds and wants to stay another year — or at least until September 2011 — to give time for him and his cabal to presumably re-organise the party and hand over power to his chosen successor.
His critics say that by re-organising the party, he can still play kingmaker from behind the scenes after retirement. Re-organising the MIC, they say, also ensures his son, Vell Paari, can have a political career.
To keep critics at bay, Samy Vellu has offered a concession — he will leave a few months earlier, but only if he is treated well and offered a high-profile government posting.
But his critics, both in the MIC and outside, refuse to play ball and are adamant that he must step down on July 10 and the reason is that they don’t want him to “re-arrange” the party and stay in power after retirement.
A new, hard-line tone has also crept into the campaign to pressure him to step down by then.
He must leave or face the consequences, MIC sources told The Malaysian Insider.
The consequences could range from, according to MIC sources, “unsavoury” revelations of scandals by expelled deputy MIC Youth chief V. Mugilan or even charges in court over a number of issues ranging from Maika Holdings to the nine million Telekom shares the government had allocated to the Indian community.
Mugilan’s Gerakan Anti-Samy Vellu, or GAS, is pressing hard for Samy Vellu to step down. While the first GAS gathering was not a major success, they have made the point that it is not “business as usual” for Samy Vellu.
They are planning more anti-Samy Vellu rallies and will soon release a CD detailing all of Samy Vellu’s “misdeeds.”
The mainstream media is also giving extensive coverage to GAS activities, indicating they have official sanction to harass and hound Samy Vellu into stepping down.
These tactics are sure to take a toll on the MIC veteran.
Furthermore, the government is ramping up its “go now” plan for Samy Vellu by not giving the party president his due status and weight at government and Barisan Nasional (BN) functions, further isolating the president and his supporters.
He is not treated with the respect and decorum that was his due before.
His decisions and recommendations are largely ignored, and a glaring example was how Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak picked Samy Vellu’s deputy, Datuk G. Palanivel, as senator and deputy minister without Samy Vellu’s blessings.
The cold shoulder treatment sends a clear signal to the veteran president that he is unwanted.
It also tells the MIC rank-and-file that the government and BN want him out of the way so that the long-awaited MIC transformation process can take place under a new leader.
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Did they do that or apply the same tactic on Ong Tee Keat to get him out as MCA president because of the PKFZ issue which is more or less swept under the carpet now ?
Replace Mugilan with Wee Ka Siong and its the same analogy .
Do you think Sammy will make short work of UMNO by throwing a spanner in the works of Najib/Muyahideen's BN and call it a day? Screams his news organ - MIC LEAVING BN !!
ReplyDeleteMIC GOING IT ALONE.....