MALAYSIAKINI Breaking news MIC polls S Samy Vellu's retains his post as his challenger M Muthupalaniappan had most of his nominations rejected

Samy Vellu retains MIC president's post uncontested - the star

Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu retained the post of MIC president uncontested for the 11th consecutive term at the close of the party's presidential nomination in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, according to sources.

The nomination papers of his challenger Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan were rejected.

Muthu’s bid looks bleak

MIC presidential aspirant Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan faces a snag in his bid to challenge incumbent Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, says MIC officials.

According to them, many of the branch chairmen who nominated the former MIC vice-president also nominated Samy Vellu.

“MIC divisional chiefs who checked with the branch chairmen claim that too many nominations secured by Muthupalaniappan had dual nominees (Samy Vellu and Muthupala-niappan).

“Such nominations would be deemed as null and void.”

They said Muthupalaniappan, 66, who had many of those nominations, may not have the sufficient number to submit his papers for the president’s post today.

MIC presidential election steering committee head Datuk K. Viji-yanathan said the party’s constitution and by-laws stated that a branch chairman can only propose or second one candidate.

“If there are instances where a branch chairman nominates more than one candidate, then his nomination would be null and void. If there is more than one nomination by a branch chairman for one candidate, then only one nomination would be taken into account,” he said.

The officials said some branch chairmen had given their nomination to Muthupalaniappan to spite their ineffective division chairmen.

They said some of these chairmen realised their folly when the division leaders sought their nominations for Samy Vellu. “By then, Muthupalani-appan had already taken the forms from them and they could not withdraw their nomination for him.”

The officials said Samy Vellu had 540 nominations, while Muthupal-aniappan claimed to have secured 51.

A candidate needs to secure 50 nominations, with each nomination needing a proposer and five seconders, all branch chairmen, to be eligible to contest.

The MIC president will be picked by the chairmen of the 3,700 branches who would be required to vote in their respective divisions.

The party has fixed today for the nominations and polling on April 12.

When contacted, Muthupalani-appan said the branch chairmen who proposed and seconded him did so on their own accord.

“I did not coerce any of them to nominate me,” he said.

Muthupalaniappan said there were behind-the-scene attempts to get branch chairmen to withdraw their nominations for him.

“Some requested me to give back their nomination forms as they were afraid of being victimised,” he said.

An aide to Samy Vellu said he would respond to any allegation after the nominations.

The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister’s Department has allocated RM12mil to improve the livelihood of the Indian community.

Deputy Minister Datuk S. K. Devamany said several programmes were being planned to train Indian youths in vocational courses.

The courses included those in the hospitality and services industry namely tourism, broadcasting, filming, logistics, and entrepreneurship.

“The Government wants the community to realise that many people have benefited from EPU’s efforts,“ he told a press conference after launching the eAcademy, a joint-venture between KnowledgeCom and SAP Malaysia here yesterday.

He said those interested in attending training programmes should register at the Social Strategic Foun­dation (YSS) of the MIC.

“YSS will also consider giving out small loans to those who want to start a business,” he added.
“The EPU has also given out 200 taxi permits to Malaysian Indians through the Entrepreneur Developm­ent and Coorperative Ministry,“ he said.

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CALLING A SPADE A SPADE.....

Aug 19, 2008

“Give me two weeks after Aug 26 as I have to gather support from Barisan Nasional MPs to join the Pakatan Government”

Anwar claiming to have the support of enough Barisan MPs to form the new Federal Government.

Feb 4, 2009

“BN is trying to form the state government by hook or by crook – more by crook.”

Anwar criticising the crossing over of Perak representatives.

No reps for indians in preak now................. Dato Saravanan in BN TAKESOVER PERAK

One fact that I noticed is that the Indian community, which threw bulk of their
votes for the opposition at the polls, have become the major losers result of
the latest political manoeuvre.Under the opposition, the community had a speaker
and a state exco member. But not anymore.

There are no Indian representatives in the BN in the Perak state assembly. Where does the Indian community takes its problems? Who do they go to in case of problems and they need assistance?

I am not bragging or anything like that but I seem to be the only Indian BN elected
representative in the state by virtue of being the member of parliament for
Tapah.The answer to the above questions have yet to be answered by the BN
leadership.

The leadership needs to create a position on par with a state exco to look at Indian affairs in the state. He must be given powers to instruct any state-run bodies, like an exco member. This person must also be hardworking as he would be instrumental in trying to bring back the Indian voters into the BN fold.

Although it is still early days, plans must be put in place so that the community in Perak does not feels neglected or sidelined by the ruling Barisan Nasional government.With all this in mind, I wish to remind the Indian community about one thing. Politics are played by politicians and as members of the Indian
community, I urge the people to come united on this matter. Please ensure that
we are not left behind in any development. This post is just a gist of what I
have to say on the matter. More will follow. Thank you

.