What is the implication of pushing the MIC elections for its top posts minus the president, from June to September 2009? The president will be elected in February, and the rest of the leaders (a deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 CWC members) 3 months later.Compared to other political parties in the country, the MIC has a different system in electing its national office-bearers. The presidential election is held at least three months ahead of the elections for the other posts. The president, in the case of a contest, is picked by branch office-bearers while other national leaders are picked by divisional delegates.

The deputy presidency seems to be the all-important post this time around as observers feel that the man who fills this post would lead the 650,000-member MIC into the next general election.

Another school of thought says Samy Vellu might decline going for the presidency if he can strike a deal among the big players in MIC politics before February next year, but this is unlikely to happen taking into account the political ambitions of a few in the upper hierarchy of the party.

What difference does extra 3 months offer? Let’s see some of the comments:

“Things are very unclear now. Nobody knows what is going on in his (Samy Vellu’s) mind. It is all a guessing game. Only time will tell who he would endorse as his deputy, if he ever endorses anyone,” party veteran and treasurer-general Tan Sri M. Mahalingam told Bernama, when contacted.

Dr Subramanian is seen as potential deputy president material. Others expected by party observers to join the contest for deputy president are Datuk S. Subramaniam, the former deputy president; Datuk G. Palanivel, the incumbent deputy president and Datuk S. Sothinathan, an incumbent vice-president.

It is learnt that Dr Subramaniam will only contest the party’s No. 2 post with the blessings of Samy Vellu while the other three are playing a wait-and-see game.

Samy Vellu, one of the longest-serving presidents of a BN component party, had said after his defeat in the Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency in the general election and in an effort to consolidate the MIC that he would not take sides in the deputy president’s race.

It has been the norm in the party, over the last two decades, for the MIC chief to come up with a list of preferred candidates for national positions and this practice, some claim, had “killed democracy” in the party.

At the last elections, he proposed that Palanivel be given the endorsement for deputy president to overthrow Subramaniam who had served as the party No. 2 for 27 years prior to the 2006 party election defeat.

In a bid to “strengthen” the party, Samy Vellu has since patched up with Subramaniam, who had been a thorn in Samy Vellu’s flesh since the mid-1970s, and the “deal” was that the MIC chief would not take sides at the next party polls, especially in the tussle for deputy president.

“He (Samy Vellu) created Palanivel to kill off Subramaniam (known in party circles as Subra). Now he has both of them on each side. On top of that, he has Dr Subramaniam, who is a full minister. To add icing to the cake, Sothinathan, who garnered the highest number of votes in the veep race the last time around, is knocking at the door of the deputy presidency.

“But one cannot discount other candidates, like Saravanan who is seen by the community as a breath of fresh air. Young leaders like him and several others are breaking into the ranks. They too have ideas which they feel are relevant to the younger generation and current political trend in the country,” said S. Ananthan, the MIC president’s former political secretary.

However, Ananthan argues that it is time for the MIC to change, not only through a rebranding exercise but also from inside, meaning changing the leadership.

“If you see, the entire line-up, may it be Samy Vellu, Subra, Palanivel or even Sothi(nathan), are old names. The general election results told MIC a lot of things but they should learn lessons instead of continuing with their old ways. Putting up a list of preferred candidates will destroy the party.

“Indians want to support the MIC but the party itself should reinvent the way it operates. It has to offer something to the Indians. That is the difficult part. Indians want the party to show that it has changed for the good,” Ananthan said.

Looks like Samy needs some time to decide on his deputy. Once he is endorsed as a president again (I doubt anyone will be challenging him), he has to put into action his plans to evaluate the potential deputies, who most likely will take over by next general elections.