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MIC Elections and AGM

August 16th, 2009
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Today saw the AGM for Youth, Wanita, Putera and Puteri wings of MIC taking place.

President’s man T.Mohan beat President’s nephew S.P Muthuveloo, garnering 321 votes against 148. This may be a sign that the other President’s man will be chosen as well, meaning goodbye Dato Subra and Sothinathan?

The deputy youth chief post was a tighter affair. MIC Youth political bureau chief V Mugilan (aligned to Mohan) defeated Kahang assemblyperson R Vidyananthan by 266 to 204 votes.

Meanwhile Wanita wing chief P Komala Devi retained her seat by defeating challenger and deputy S Thangasvari by 26 votes. Komala obtained 238 votes while Thangasvari gained 212 votes.

The deputy’s post was won by Dr CV Prema of Perak  (aligned to Komala) who defeated Negeri Sembilan Wanita MIC chief Dr P Thanaletchumi by getting 279 votes to 172.

According to Komala:

Speaking to reporters, Komala said her priority was to unite the women’s wing.

“We will also be increasing our programmes to serve the people, like medical screenings for women against breast and cervical cancer, and financial advice for entrepreneurs.

Komala also planned to organise leadership courses to train more leaders in the party.

To a question if she had expected a slim majority, she said she was not surprised as there was a smear campaign against her.

The AGM saw few suggestions worth mentioning:

1. MIC Youth to increase age limit from 40 to 45 in order to attract more professionals, create second echelon leaders, and possibly to avoid conflict with Putera wing. The change to be proposed in the upcoming general assembly.

2. Online membership application to be introduced.

3. Membership in MIC branches to be reduced from 100 to 65 so that better service can be provided to members (and to open more branches).

And, Samy talked about Facebook!!! :

“Youth members can create their own blogs and use the Facebook facility to interact with each other, and at the same time provide information on the activities and achievements of our party,” he said.

Syabas to Samy. Now we can see an influx of MIC people entering Facebook, joining the existing members and leaders. Hopefully it would not be like the call for blogging – when many politicians from all sides set up blogs, but today how many actually updating…

Congrats to the winners. Hopefully they will bring improvement to their various wings, champion the rights and justice for all Malaysian, steer clear of scandals, and manage to stay in position till the next election.

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Sayonara Murugiah

August 12th, 2009
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Well, I guess we all saw it coming.  When the cracks started to appear way back in 2008, one can sense that Kayveas will win.

Malaysiakini carried the news on Monday that report from ROS that refused to recognise Murugiah’s so-called Emergency General Meeting on May 24, and that the report has been handed over to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. This matter was discussed in the BN supreme council attended by  PPP party president M Kayveas and his two vice-presidents Maglin D’Cruz and Lee Heng .

Today, the Home Minister made the revelation of the ROS report, adding that the legal officer of the Home Ministry was also consulted in order to be sure. According to him, ROS had affirmed that (i) Kayveas is the rightful president of PPP, (ii) the election of Murugiah during an extraordinary general meeting, called by his supporters, was invalid, (iii) Murugiah’s sacking, along with six of his supporters, from the party by the party disciplinary committee was valid and in accordance with the party constitution.

Based on the information and investigation results, Murugiah does not have the ‘locus’ to act as the party’s president or use the party platform to perform any activities related to PPP.

“The party is advised to take action against him (Murugiah) if he continues to use the party’s name,” said Hishammuddin.

However, ROS also reported that Murugiah’s complaints had its merit, namely: (i)  the party had not tabled its financial records at its annual general meeting between 2003 and 2007 (violation of Section 14(1) of the Societies Act 1996), (ii) changes to the original PPP logo, (iii) holding an AGM after a June 7, 2009 deadline and (iv)  electing supreme council members a year too early.

As such, the ROS issued the PPP a showcause letter to explain itself. Should the explanation be unsatisfactory, the party could be de-registered under the Societies Act. The party has 30 days to respond.

From The Star:

Hishammuddin said he had personally spoken to Kayveas and Murugiah on Monday and Tuesday respectively to inform them of the decision and they had both accepted the decision….

“At the end of the day what I would like is for them (Kayveas and Murugiah) to find a solution that ensures that the party and its members do not suffer,” Hishammuddin said.

“This a legal solution but at the end of the day a political answer needs to be found for the personalities and leaders within the party,” he told a press conference after chairing his ministry’s post-cabinet meeting here on Wednesday.

Most importantly, he also clarified that the position of Murugiah in the cabinet is not affected by the ROS report as his Deputy Minister post was appointed by PM Najib. Anyway, its a foregone conclusion that Murugiah has to let go of his positions in the government, and PPP will submit another name to replace him, provided there’s no legal suits or PPP being de-registered.

Bye bye Murugiah. At least till you join another party or make a comeback in PPP at the next elections.

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Samy loss due to sabotage?

August 6th, 2009
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OMS Thiagarajan dropped a bombshell when he claimed that an UMNO leader helped to sabotage Samy Vellu’s election campaign in Sungai Siput in the 2008 general elections. Does it mean that the loss was not due to HINDRAF, Makkal Sakthi or anti-MIC sentiments? This is really shocking because all this while the general perception attributed Samy’s loss to HINDRAF and anti-BN sentiments.

Anyway, as I like to say – follow the money trail. It seems the reason the UMNO leader did that was to grab the lucrative Works Ministry from MIC.

Read about it at The Star or the article from Malaysiakini below:

Tamil newspapers are abuzz over the news that a Barisan Nasional component party leader was involved in undermining MIC president and former works minister S Samy Vellu’s chances during the March 8 general election.

It is learnt that the leader in question is from Umno and the alleged conspiracy was centred around the party’s desire to seize control of the Works Ministry from MIC.

During last year’s general election, Samy Vellu was defeated in his traditional parliamentary stronghold of Sungai Siput and subsequently dropped from the cabinet line up.

The Works Ministry fell into the hands of Umno while MIC was given, what most regard as the ‘more junior’ Human Resources Ministry.

The ‘sabotage’ allegation was raised by prominent Indian businessman OMS Thiagarajan earlier this week.

He was quoted in the Tamil newspapers as saying he had the assistance of a BN component party leader to oust Samy Vellu from Sungai Siput to ensure that the MIC president did not retain the position of works minister.

Thiagarajan is a close associate of the MIC president’s former estranged deputy S Subramaniam.

Saravanan: Probe the allegation

Meanwhile, MIC information chief and Deputy Federal Territories Minister M Saravanan said the allegation should be fully investigated as it was very serious.

“I will be talking to BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor about the matter soon,” he told Bernama.

Saravanan said that if the allegation was true, stern action must be taken against the component party leader.

“I am not accusing Thiagarajan of making a false statement, but I just want BN component party leaders cleared of any such allegation.

“This allegation can create a lot of discomfort and result in disunity among BN component parties.

“It is a serious allegation and should be clarified as soon as possible,” he added.

Samy Vellu has yet to comment on the issue.

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Solution for Kg Buah Pala?

August 4th, 2009
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Lim Guan Eng says developer agrees to share the land with the residents (7.30pm today). He is to discuss with the residents, and if they agree, problem settled.  However, Nusmetro still talking about the residents moving out – perhaps to temporary housing? And what would the coperative say?

Demolition postponed till August 18 since the residents filed an appeal and appeal will be heard on that day only. Developer can’t demolish until appeal is heard and decided upon. So, for the moment, the residents can breathe easy.

 The way I look at it, options are quite clear – (i) buy back/reclaim land, (ii) share land, or (iii) compensate and move out/evict. Each of the solution may bring another set of problems – political, financial, legal, and social.

 

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Tuesday evening that the developer of the Kampung Buah Pala land has agreed to share the 2.6ha plot with the villagers.

He said he would discuss the proposal with the villagers at a meeting with them at Komtar which started at 8.05pm on Tuesday.

He spoke to reporters in a short press conference before the meeting began

Earlier, Bernama reported that the planned demolition of houses in Kampung Buah Pala Tuesday has been postponed, once again, to Friday, pending a solution to be worked out for the 23 families facing eviction from the area which is to be developed.

The villagers are scheduled to have a meeting with the state government Tuesday night.

State government representatives had met last night with the developer of the land, Nusmetro Ventures (P) Sdn Bhd.

Nusmetro Ventures executive director Thomas Chan said the company had come to an agreement with the state government to set Friday as the new deadline for the villagers to move out of their houses.

Chan, who was accompanied by the company’s lawyer, told reporters he would wait for the outcome of tonight’s meeting between the villagers and the state government.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy met the villagers Tuesday and said the draft of a solution was being prepared by the state government.

“We have also agreed to meet the residents at Komtar (where the state government office is located) at 7.30pm today to discuss the draft,” he told reporters after the meeting.

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Promise for shoplot school

August 4th, 2009
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I’m sure some of you guys who have received an email about a school in a shoplot. That wasn’t something that happened in a faraway land, but right here in Negeri Sembilan. SJKT Ladang Sungai Salak is the infamous school I’m talking about. It was sharing building with another school for 5 years before moving into a shoplot in July 2007. Not sure if its listed in Malaysian Book of Records for the tremendous achievement.

Anyway, the school is in the limelight again because Senator P.Murugiah (he who is often seen as butting into other people’s territory) made a visit to the school recently. He also said that the school will get their own place next year and said that he will talk to Deputy Education Minister about this problem. Following this, Deputy Education Minister Puad Zarkashi said that the Education Ministry will help relocate SJK(T) Ladang Sungai Salak, citing “the 120 pupils should be studying in a more conducive environment and not be crammed in classrooms.”

“The school can be a fire trap. We will find ways to relocate it soon,” he said after visiting SJK(C) Ladang Hillside near here.

According to Puad, the Government has allocated RM975,000 for the construction of the school but it was delayed as the school had not been able to secure a plot for the purpose. Puad said the state Education Department would help school authorities to look for a piece of land in Lukut to build a new school.

Contrasting that is the statement in the earlier posting, where school said there no cooperation and help from the authorities to secure land or place. The school obviously couldn’t find land by itself. What is the purpose of having an Education Department, one may ask.

Anyway, the issue got interesting because MIC Negeri Sembilan claims Murugiah is trying to claim credit for the hard work put in by MIC for last two years in securing land for the school. The relocation to shoplot was secured through MIC 2 years ago. If not, maybe the schools be virtually closed down without any venue. Rajagopalu, MIC state chief, also said some different about the land:

He said the party had laid the groundwork to relocate the school to a nearby land acquired by the Education Ministry for RM1.5mil.

He added that MIC secretary-general Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, who is also the Human Resources Minister, had already spoken to Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on the matter.

So, now we are not sure what is exactly going on with land status. Is there land available or not?

Whatever it is, hopefully the promise by the Deputy Education Minister materialises soon. No more excuse about land office not helpful or no land found etc.

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