Posts Tagged ‘Elections’

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Makkal Sakthi

September 26th, 2009
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Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party has thrown its support behind PM Najib and BN for the upcoming Bagan Pinang by-election. Not surprising since the PM will be launching the party just a day before the by-election.

MMSP president RS Thanenthiran said the Indian voters of Bagan Pinang have much more to gain should BN’s yet-to-be named candidate win, as the coalition is the ruling state government.

“But if the seat falls to the opposition, it will be a waste for the Indian community there, because they cannot do much in terms of social, educational and economic development,” said Thanenthiran when contacted today.

“This (Bagan Pinang) is a test ground. The prime minister has made various promises to the Indian community. We should give him and his 1Malaysia concept a chance,” he added.

Thanenthiran said a MMSP delegation has met Najib twice – in March and in July – where the prime minister listened to their grouses and pledged to resolve the woes of the Indian community.

“We appreciate that he made time for us and he realises that something must be done – education, gangsterism, alcoholism and work opportunities – these problems were highlighted and he even took down notes,” he said.

However, Thanenthiran stressed that MMSP will remain an “independent” party, despite cozy ties with Najib, adding that the latter was invited to launch the party as the prime minister, and not as the BN chair.

“We are greatly honoured because our PM has an open mind…. We are the Makkal Sakti (people’s power) party and it is clear that this PM is a people’s PM.

“We are attracted to his 1Malaysia concept. This is what we are asking for. We hope by inviting the PM, we can get a clear picture of the 1Malaysia concept,” he said.

I think deep down, people will be happy if MMSP manage to get things down. However, outwardly, it seems like Thanenthiran is riding on Makkal Sakthi and Hindraf name for his party benefit. However, they must be careful to not end up puppets for either coalition. With a claim of 50,000 members, MMSP can try to do something beneficial, but so far, I haven’t heard them speaking on any of the latest issues – Kg Buah Pala or Seksyen 23 cow head protest, for example.

MMSP has an ally in ex-PM Mahathir :

“There seems to be a lot of support for the formation of this party. I think it is a good thing because we don’t want to lose the support of the Indians,” he said to newsmen at his Hari Raya open house in Seri Kembangan on Saturday.

When asked if the formation of another Indian party would dilute MIC’s influence further, he replied: “Well, I think the influence of MIC has already been diluted.”

Ouch!

Meanwhile, HINDRAF’s Waytha is not happy that the movement is being linked with MMSP:

Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Front) chief P Waythamoorthy is livid over news reports that attempts are being made to connect the strictly apolitical human rights and equal rights movement with the newly-registered Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP).

“There seems to be a convoluted agenda to draw similarities between Hindraf and MMSP and this is being encouraged by the powers-that-be,” said Waythamoorthy in a statement toMalaysiakini.

“It is strange that the prime minister agreed to launch a party which is not a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional. The speed with which MMSP was registered speaks for itself.” 

Waythamoorthy (left) pointed out that MIC, a founder member of the BN, has also warned several times that it would veto any application by the MMSP to join the BN. Admission to BN must be unanimous, while expulsion is by a simple majority. 

“The pair behind the MMSP were ordinary members, if the term can be used, of Hindraf,” said Waythamoorthy.

MMSP is headed by RS Thanenthiran (below), who is party president, and Kannan Ramasamy, the party secretary-general. [I thought they both were some sort of coordinators in HINDRAF]

Both men were active with Hindraf after the government crackdown where a number of the movements lawyers and a volunteer were arrested, noted Waythamoorthy.

‘Makkal sakthi’ expropriated

Explaining the differences between Hindraf and MMSP, Waythamoorthy stressed that the latter is trying to capitalise on the term “makkal sakthi”, Tamil for people power, which was made popular by the rights movement in late 2007.

… “Hindraf will continue to be an umbrella NGO for 30 Indian-based groups which agreed and contributed towards its formation,” said Waythamoorthy. “We are neither pro-Pakatan or anti-BN despite our support for the opposition in the last general election.” 

The thrust of Hindraf, according to Waythamoorthy, is to support whoever is pledged towards dismantling the apartheid-like structure of race and religion which has descended on Malaysia.

At the same time, he pledged, the movement will oppose anyone who wants to divide the people of Malaysia along racial and religious lines in politics. 

“In short, we are for the truth, regardless of how some people may feel about it,” said Waythamoorthy. “The truth cannot be politicised or sacrificed for reasons of political expediency.” 

Drawing a distinction between BN and Umno, the Hindraf chief vowed that his movement will have nothing to do with the Malay-based party, which he blames for all the woes of Malaysians of Indian origin and other Malaysians too.

He does not see Umno redeeming itself ever in the eyes of the Indian community “because it is too set in its ways and politics, and will continue on its death-wish path and implode sooner rather than later”. 

Elder brother has right to form own party

The MMSP, claimed Waythamoorthy, is like many other Indian-based political parties who want to emulate the MIC and bring in the Indian votes for the BN to shore up Umno in power “in return for some crumbs from the spoils of office”. 

“MMSP is not even a splinter group of Hindraf,” stressed Waythamoorthy. “Neither is the Human Rights Party which is headed by my brother P Uthayakumar and still awaiting registration, unlike the MMSP. 

“Uthaya has never been a Hindraf activist. He was only the legal advisor.” [This is very confusing statement!]

Uthayakumar thinks that the objectives of Hindraf need to be given a political platform, according to Waythamoorthy.

While he has no quarrel with his brother, he begs to differ since “Hindraf is not his call”.

However, Waythamoorthy concedes that his brother has a right to form his own political party to at least drive home to the electorate the lessons that he has learned during his years in detention under the ISA.

He declined to dwell further on the Human Rights Party,which he was given to understand has no links either with the MMSP. 

Waythamoorthy is in self-imposed exile in London where Hindraf has an office, in addition to India, Australia and New York.

The movement’s main work is to liaise with the United Nations, the US State Department and the UK Parliament. Hindraf is also awaiting recognition from the European Parliament.

It also releases the Malaysian Indian Minority and Human Rights Violations Annual Report at the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin and Pravasi Bharathiya Divas international conference every year.

The latter is a gathering of the Indian diaspora where Hindraf and MIC, among others from Malaysia, are represented.

I won’t be surprised if its all some sort of drama. MMSP may end up merging with MIC after Samy leaves, or it may bring in Dato Subra as a heavy weight.  Or it could end up like KIMMA and IPF, forever waiting outside of the coalition.

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irregularities during MIC elections

September 26th, 2009
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Well, the group that did the investigation consist of losing candidates, so not surprising that they want to call for fresh polls.  Among the allegations: cancellation of handphone ban during voting and campaigning beyond stipulated time. From the way I look at it, its a no-win situation as the complaints will be discussed in the CWC, which consists of the winners and those aligned to the party leadership. Most likely the 7 will be disciplined  for “tarnishing” the party’s image.

A group of disgruntled candidates in the Sept 12 MIC party election have today pressed for fresh polls to be held as there were allegedly irregularities during the contest.

They have formed a committee comprising P Subramaniam, who contested the vice-president’s post, and six central working committee (CWC) candidates.

The Pro-Tem MIC 2009 Election Irregularity Committee secretary, N Saaran, said he had raised several issues in a letter of complaint sent to the chairman of the MIC election committee, K Vijayanathan, including the abuse of power by MIC president S Samy Vellu when the election was going on.

“We have come to (the) conclusion that the election committee that conducted the MIC general election was not independent, was not transparent. There were various irregularities that we have gathered.

“We actually sent notices to the election committee chairman, we had requested for explanation why such irregularities had taken place,” he told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Also present at the press conference were members of the pro-tem committee, including its chairman Subramaniam who lost in the election for the VP post.

Saaran claimed that the irregularities discovered at the election included Samy Vellu’s cancellation of the ban on the use of handphones whereas Vijayanathan had issued a reminder to all delegates before the balloting.

“One of the delegates was caught using the handphone to take a photograph of the ballot paper, this was brought up by one of the candidates to the election committee, however no action had been taken,” he claimed.

Subramaniam said other complaints raised with the MIC election committee chief in four letters sent on Sept 18, 23 and 25 were the actions of the candidates endorsed by Samy Vellu who had violated the rules against campaigning.

“Candidates were prohibited to campaign after 12 noon on Sept 11, but this rule was not followed by this so-called official line-up, there were campaigns after 12pm where there were campaigning in Sentul Curry House by the Youth, Wanita and Puteri MIC wings,” he claimed.

“And not only that, on the election day, copies of pro-Samy VelluTamil Nesan, were distributed to all 1,400 delegates in the hall. In the paper, you could see a lot of campaigning by the official line-up, which was against the rule on campaigning,” he said.

Subramaniam questioned why no action was taken whereas the MIC election committee chairman had earlier issued a warning that any candidate caught campaigning after the time stipulated would automatically be disqualified from contesting.

He said his group was waiting for an explanation from Vijayanathan before taking further action.

Asked what action they would take if there was no change in the decision, he said they would then decide whether to remain in the MIC or join another party.

K Saraswathy, who is a lawyer representing the pro-tem committee, said that while the MIC constitution permits members to take their grouses to the courts, the Societies Act would not allow it.

“According to Section 91 of the MIC constitution, an issue can be brought to court after it has been discussed by the CWC,” she said.

However, she argued that some members of the CWC were not legitimate as they were candidates who had allegedly breached the election rules.

In an immediate response, Vijayanathan said that his election committee did not have the powers to act but added that the complaints could be forwarded to the CWC.

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We lost because of him!

September 18th, 2009
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One should not believe a word ex-PM Mahathir says on face value. There’s always a hidden agenda somewhere. So, if he says Samy Vellu should go (short of harakiri-ing), or that Nazri should be dropped from Cabinet, or Isa Samad is not fit to be a candidate, there’s something else happening behind the scenes. Let’s look at his comments (also available in Malaysiakini):

“If we look at other countries, whenever a leader fails, he resigns. In Japan he commits harakiri. We’re not asking him (Samy Vellu) to commit harakiri.

“You (Samy Vellu) have failed to lead the MIC until you yourself lost,” he said.

Citing the example of former prime minsiter Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who resigned after his poor performance, Tun Dr Mahathir said: “Samy Vellu performed worse than Pak Lah (Abdullah) but he did not want to relinquish the post.

“He should have resigned before things got to this stage.”

He said he had a right to criticise anyone for the sake of the Barisan, and added: “I’ve criticised Pak Lah, who’s Samy Vellu that I cannot criticise?” [Where is Samy going to hide after this? Does this mean more MIC staunch supporters will propose or even garland Mahathir’s pictures with slippers? Anyone supporter will self-immolate like in Tamil Nadu? I don’t think so 🙂 ]

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Samy recon on Bagan Pinang

September 17th, 2009
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With a string of failed campaigns behind them, MIC hopes to turn the tables around this time. This time around, Samy Vellu is leaving it to the newly minted vice president and deputies to lead the assault, BUT he will oversee the campaign. I was surprised to read about this line “They will mobilise hundreds of (MIC) Youth and Wanita members to assist families (of voters) by staying with them,”. Whoa, to the extend of staying with them? Surely pressure to the voters la. Silap – silap become harassment case ! 🙂

Anyway, according to the fact-finding team led by Samy Vellu, majority of the voters are staying elsewhere (2000 out of 2800 Indian voters in Bagan Pinang). So, MIC is going to ensure these people return and vote for BN candidate. That’s a tall order indeed, considering the recent issues in Kg Buah Pala and Shah Alam Section 23.

PORT DICKSON: An MIC delegation led by president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu met the Indian community in the Bagan Pinang state constituency to identify their problems.

The fact-finding team comprising newly-elected MIC vice-president and Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, Negri Sembilan MIC chief Datuk T. Rajagopalu and state executive councillor V.S. Mogan were received by party members and local residents.

They spent half a day visiting the Indian-majority areas of Ladang Seliau, Ladang Arthurthen, Ladang Sua Betong and Ladang Bradwall. [I wonder what the Tamil Schools here will get as goodies. Dear HMs, make hay while the sun shines!]

Speaking to reporters, Samy Vellu said the four estates alone had 1,890 registered Indian voters from the total 2,600 Indian voters in the constituency who form 20% of the total electorate.

“According to our survey, up to 2,000 Indian voters are no longer staying in the constituency but in nearby areas, with 40% living and working in Seremban, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru,” he said.

The party’s main task was to ensure that these 2,000 Indians vote on polling day, he said, adding that MIC would soon start mobilising its election machinery that would be led by party deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel.

Nominations for the Bagan Pinang by-election is on Oct 3 while polling is on Oct 11.

The seat fell vacant with the death of its assemblyman Azman Mohammad Noor on Sept 4.

Samy Vellu said three teams would be formed headed by Dr Subramaniam and two other newly-elected MIC vice-presidents, Datuk S.K. Devamany and Datuk M. Saravanan.

“They will mobilise hundreds of (MIC) Youth and Wanita members to assist families (of voters) by staying with them,” he said, adding that MIC would adopt a different strategy to woo the Indian voters in the by-election.

“I will oversee the running of the entire team to ensure victory for the Barisan Nasional,” he said, adding that Palanivel and Dr Subramaniam were expected to hold a series of meetings with local residents and party workers.

However, there may be a silver lining for MIC because it seems both Hindraf and HRP are not decided on a stand yet. They are not supporting BN  and also reluctant to endorse PR.

It is learnt that leaders and supporters of HRP and Hindraf will meet this weekend to decide on their official stand for the by-election on Oct 11.

Earlier, there were rumours that the newly-formed HRP may field a candidate to contest as an independent.
However, according to sources from HRP and Hindraf, neither of the movements would do this.

A source said: “We will support neither BN (Barisan Nasioal) nor PR (Pakatan Rakyat). We cannot support BN, while at the same time we cannot rally behind the PR coalition either.

“We cannot support PR for two reasons: the Kampung Lorong Buah Pala controversy where Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng let the Indians down, and also the Selangor government’s poor handling of the Shah Alam Hindu temple relocation.”

Some quarters propose that the Indians abstain from voting, to show that they are unhappy with both coalitions. I’m not so sure it will help the PR coalition if that’s the stand by the voters.  In the previous election, BN won even with the Indians voting for PR candidate, so there’s nothing to suggest otherwise this time. Perhaps it will shock the PR coalition to buck up and pay heed to the Indian community. Perhaps not. The number of constituencies with Indian voters being more than 20% is just an handful.

Bagan Pinang vital stats: There are 14,192 voters in the constituency, with Malays making up 64 per cent, Chinese 10.8 per cent, Indians 20.4 per cent and other races, 4.9 per cent. There are 5,171 postal votes.

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MIC AGM

September 16th, 2009
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Lawyer Murugesan Sinnavandar, 42, who stood for Subang parliamentary seat in the last General Elections, was selected to be the MIC secretary-general. Putera MIC coordinator, P Kamalanathan was appointed as MIC information chief. They both replace Dr S Subra and Saravanan respectively. Samy said its part of the process to attract younger people to join MIC.  Meanwhile, Datuk Jaspal Singh, 47, was appointed as Treasurer.

“I have chosen someone young to be the MIC secretary general. This is to show that the party is changing and this is one of the way for us to attract the younger generation,” Samy Vellu said in his closing speech at MIC’s 63rd general assembly at the Putra World Trade Centre today.

And they are going to allow for online registration too (something that was mentioned last year itself).

For a start, we will begin the online registration of new members through the MIC portal to attract the younger generations and professionals to join the party.

The party will also open up more branches headed by young people. We have identified at least 2,000 graduates for this purpose,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dato Subra will be facing referred (again) to the discplinary board as mentioned by Samy:

Former MIC deputy president Datuk S Subramaniam will be referred to the party’s disciplinary board on a charge of bringing supporters to disrupt the party’s 63rd general assembly yesterday, MIC president S Samy Vellu said.

“The group, comprising about 500 people, tried to create chaos. We are gathering information on this.

“I know who these groups are and so do the authorities. Disciplinary action will be taken against him. I’ve never seen incidents like this… I see it as an attempt to scare the delegates,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the second and final day of the general assembly today.

Among the eight resolutions made (read it here too) :

1. the government allocate loans through agencies or financial agencies to the Indian community to enable its members to purchase shares issued by the government. Such a step would supplement the government’s step to allocate 499 units of Amanah Saham Malaysia shares for the community.

2. On the issue of education, the MIC wants the government to prepare pre-school education opportunities for 80 per cent of Tamil schools as opposed to the 17.5 per cent now.

3. MIC wants the Education Ministry to increase the limit of subjects for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination from 10 to 11 so that science stream SPM candidates can sit for the Tamil language and Tamil literature papers.

4. The party also welcomed the ‘1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now’ concept as well as the liberal policy of Najib.

5. The delegates also pledged their “wholehearted support” to MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for his role in helping the party uplift the Indian community. ”We appreciate the president’s efforts in making the party more relevant to the needs of the Indian community through the rebranding exercise,” they noted.

6. On skills training, the delegates want the programmes to be widely publicised and promoted to enable Indian youths a chance to gain new skills

7. The delegates also appreciated the government’s efforts to provide more funds for small and medium enterprises stating that it would help Indian SMEs. However, they want the government to expedite the disbursement of loans, ensure regular and systematic follow-ups with recipients and have an effective mechanism to monitor the loan disbursement.

I hope the resolutions don’t end up in the usual place. 🙂

Do you still remember the points mentioned during the general assembly in 2007? No? Let’s refer to the Star:

The MIC has formulated four activities to strengthen its political position as the sole representative of the Indian community in the country.

Its president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the activities included a major exercise to register every eligible Indian as a voter.

Divisions must organise voter registration campaigns and also make house-to-house visits, he said in his closing address at the MIC general assembly here yesterday.

Samy Vellu said that a bureau, to be headed by a Central Working Committee member, would undertake the campaign as well as make the necessary preparations for the forthcoming general election.

Elected representatives at Parliament and state assemblies must also ensure that they resolved problems of all communities in their constituencies and submit a report to him.

Samy Vellu said that a series of 17 seminars had been planned to chart the work and responsibilities of over 4,300 party branch leaders.

On the economic front, he said the party would follow up with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on the establishment of a dedicated delivery mechanism to ensure effective delivery of the Ninth Malaysia Plan for the Indian community.

“Our economic bureau will also identify 5,000 micro Indian entrepreneurs by 2010, provide them basic training and enable them to have access to microbusiness loans,” he said.

On education, he said there would be a review of the performance of Indian students in the SPM and STPM before strategies and remedies to improve their overall performance are developed.

“We will also identify Indian youths with intelligence and academic excellence and help them to access world-class higher educational institutions,” he said.

Samy Vellu said the party would identify 5,000 under-achieving youths at the SPM level and channel them into skills and industrial training institutions yearly.

“We will also review the remove class system where there are currently 6,000 Indian students, the status of teachers in Tamil schools, and Indians employed as teachers, headmasters, lecturers and in other positions in the Education Ministry,” he said.

He said a paper would be submitted to the Chief Secretary to the Government, on the appeals from excellent students who failed to obtain scholarships to pursue their studies overseas.

Samy Vellu said the party would identify the poor families, especially single mothers and the elderly, and ensure they received help through the welfare department.

Earlier, the MIC unanimously passed an amendment to the party constitution to allow the creation of Putra MIC at state and division levels for those aged between 18 and 30.

The party’s constitution amendment committee chairman, Tan Sri M. Mahalingam, said that the wing’s division level leaders would be elected while the state leaders would be appointed.

Is there some sort of report card to see the progress of those plans?

The assembly also saw changes to party constitution:

1. Limiting the presidency and division chairmanship to 3 terms only;

2. Branches to have minimum 60 members instead of 100. “Subject to the approval of the central working committee, a new branch may be established at such locality as the divisional congress may think appropriate, provided the application for the formation of such new branch congress is made in writing to the divisional secretary and signed by at least 60 persons in that locality,” the amendment reads.

3. Provision pertaining to the number of delegates a branch could have based on the number of members. Previously a branch was entitled to have a delegate for every 100 members but now the proportion is amended to one delegate per 60 members.

4. allows for the applications of membership through the Internet but they must be approved by the party’s central working committee, the party’s highest decision-making body

Among the suggestions made by Samy at the assembly:

1. MSC status for AIMST and surrounding areas

2. annual grant for AIMST

3. Intake of Indians into the civil service be expedited to achieve the 7.4% quota for the community set by the Government.

4. Government to instruct government-linked companies to provide adequate employment opportunities for Indians.

Anyway, this general assembly would be remembered for the “change” and “popular”  speech by PM Najib, something which Samy sees as incorrect.

And finally some quotes from the delegates:

“This government wants Indian support but at the same time works on splitting Indians,” stressed S Pulikesi from Batu Gajah, Perak.

“If these Indians (outside of MIC) claim that (MIC) leaders didn’t do anything, then they should join MIC and change the community,” he said.

His call came after Ampang MIC delegate M Muniandy criticised Mahathir for his caustic remarks against Samy Vellu.

“We clapped and welcomed Mahathir whenever he attended MIC meetings. Our president also praised him. Yet now, he (Mahathir) accuses Samy Vellu of not doing anything.

“If we accept that Samy Vellu didn’t do anything for the Indians, then what have you (Mahathir) done for the Indians in the 22 years (that he was premier)? Have you fulfilled all of our requests?” he asked.

“All of us are doing work on the ground and we have been campaigning more than MCA and Umno,” said T Nadesan from Pasir Gudang.

“We are a big party but we still have to beg from Umno for allocations,” he added.

Shah Alam delegate S Vickneswari praised Samy Vellu for his leadership, saying that Indians would still be tapping rubber trees in the estates if not for him.

“If our children question what MIC has done for the community, we should give them a tight slap and enlighten them,” she said. [whoa! cruelty and crime!]

As for party members, she stressed: “If we question MIC, we are questioning ourselves.”

Another woman delegate urged delegates not to praise Samy Vellu and other leaders too much.

“MIC members should discard this attitude … it is a bad habit,” she said.

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