WITHER THE MIC?

There are gatherings in the compound of the MIC headquarters with leaders accosted as they emerge from meetings; police reports being lodged  by parties on different sides of the divide within the MIC; and, the party itself appearing to slowly deteriorating into an also-ran in the Malaysian political milieu.

Balan Moses, ABN News

IT pains me to read about the state of affairs in the MIC today.

It appears that the party may be going backwards into history instead of striding forward like one would expect of one of the oldest political  parties in the country.

There are gatherings in the compound of the MIC headquarters with leaders accosted as they emerge from meetings; police reports being lodged  by parties on different sides of the divide within the MIC; and, the party itself appearing to slowly deteriorating into an also-ran in the Malaysian political milieu.

The Registrar of Societies has added another dimension to the intra-party conflict with his decision that a re-election of senior positions take place.

The party is contesting this and it is anyone’s guess as to what will transpire in the future in this regard.

Where is the MIC heading 69 years after its formation with its beleaguered eighth president, Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, truly at odds as to how to resolve the infighting within the party?

While he is scheduled to step down as president next year under a deal with senior leaders in the party, some in the party want this date to be brought forward.

Can he withstand the storm of protest at his doorstep given the fact that he is seriously at odds with Samy Vellu and the latter’s outspoken son, Datuk Seri Vell Paari?

The current unrest in the party reminds me of the heady “chair-throwing’ days before Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu took steps to mould it into a respectable organisation.

Then, there were warlords, for want of another word, who wielded power in their respective states and who sometimes did not see eye-to-eye with the then party supremo.

The epic Samy Vellu-Datuk (now Tan Sri) S. Subramaniam  tussle for leadership – which saw the former invariably coming out tops due to his close ties with then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – also hurt the party.

But it recovered from the leadership difference as Samy Vellu brought calm into a party wrought by differences with his “iron-fisted” leadership which brooked no nonsense from anyone.

It was his way or the highway. He may have had his detractors  but his was one way of bringing unity back to the MIC.

But 2008 put paid to all his efforts to bring respectability to the MIC with his defeat to an unknown and two MIC vice-presidents and the youth and wanita wing heads and some other Barisan Nasional leaders falling like tenpins at the hands of relative novices.

The party did little better at the 2013 polls, leading to political observers predicting a further weakening of the so-called party representing Indian in the BN in the future.

Palanivel has his own leadership style and an arguably undistinguished presence in the political arena.

For the MIC to emerge from its current predicament, it needs a leader who can work with his detractors to project the MIC as a party that deliver the goods.

If the MIC wants to make a comeback at the next polls, it needs to be seen as a competent organisation that can make its presence felt within the BN and Indian community.

Gone are the days when people will vote for whoever a party proposes for a seat.

Today, the people want leaders of calibre who will work hard for them in the various state assemblies and in the Dewan Rakyat.

The MIC cannot ride on the back of other BN components anymore what with the DAP, PKR and PAS making strides into traditional BN “safe” areas with ease in the last two general elections.

This is the ‘realpolitik’ of the day.