Samy removes Kuala SelangorÂ’s Thirumoorthy

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/17/nation/17456615&sec=nation

IJOK: Kuala Selangor MIC division chief P. Thirumoorthy, who threatened to resign if he was not chosen as the Barisan NasionalÂ’s candidate for the Ijok by-election, has been replaced. 

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the party had already appointed a new division chief and replaced six of the 33 branch chairmen who supported Thirumoorthy. 

He declined to comment further. 

Meanwhile, Thirumoorthy said he considered himself out of the party following the announcement of the by-election candidate here yesterday. 

“IÂ’m leaving,” he said.  

When asked whether he had tendered a resignation letter, he said: “There is no need for me to tender a resignation letter because Samy Vellu had said he did want to see me and has expelled me already.”  

Thirumoorthy also claimed that 34 out 76 Kuala Selangor MIC branch chiefs would be leaving with him.  

“They will inform the headquarters soon,” he said.  

On Sunday, Thirumoorthy threatened to resign if he was not chosen and Samy Vellu immediately slammed him, calling him a traitor.  

In a statement faxed to the press last evening, Thirumoorthy said he was saddened being labelled a traitor when he had been loyal to the party president for the last 27 years.  

“This is a cruel accusation, which hurts me and the Ijok voters,” he said. 

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Dr Khir Toyo announced yesterday that Tanjung Karang MIC division secretary K. Parthiban would be Barisan’s candidate for the by-election. 

The Ijok state seat became vacant after incumbent K. Sivalingam died on April 4. 

Thirumoothy claimed that Samy Vellu had sent Sivalingam, who was facing a court case then, to Ijok in 1990 and added that Sivalingam would have lost the election if not for him, a division secretary then, who had worked day and night to ensure SivalingamÂ’s victory.  

‘You can go,’ Samy tells disgruntled division chief
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/16/nation/17451098&sec=nation
By DHARMENDER SINGH
KUALA SELANGOR: Kuala Selangor MIC division chief P. Thirumoorthy, 55, has threatened to resign if he is not chosen to contest the Ijok state seat but his party president feels that Barisan is quite capable of winning without the division chief’s support.
“We (Barisan Nasional) will not suffer because of this ? I have the support of 98% of the branches here.
“They can go. All the people in Ijok will remain with us. I appreciate him for backbiting the party,” sniped MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu when speaking to reporters here yesterday.
He said this was not the first time that Thirumoorthy had acted against the party and he had proof that the division chief had also chosen an independent candidate to fight former Ijok assemblyman Datuk K. Sivalingam during the last elections.
He said he would not meet with Thirumoorthy as he did not wish to “deal with traitors.”
The state seat became vacant after Sivalingam died on April 4.
“He (Thirumoorthy) has been a leader for a long time and he has only managed to tear apart the party. There has been infighting and I want to clean it up with a new candidate,” Samy Vellu said.
“I am happy that before I can sack him, he is already out. I do not want any resignation (letter from him), let him get lost,” he added.
Earlier, at a press conference at the MIC division office here, Thirumoorthy said that he and 33 MIC branch chairmen in his division would resign immediately if a candidate other than himself was announced by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo today.
He said that 18 of the chairmen were from the Ijok constituency and represented about 2,000 voters.
“I have been with the party for 40 years and supported all the ‘visitors’ who have served as assemblymen.
“It is time that my sacrifices are recognised. It is time to respect the voters’ wish to have a local candidate,” said the schoolteacher.