Samy will anounce today

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
malaysiakini | Feb 20, 08

MIC president S Samy Vellu will announce the party's candidates for the 12th general election this afternoon.

The names will be disclosed at a special press conference at the Works Ministry in Kuala Lumpur.

MIC has nine parliamentary and 19 state seats.

Over the weeks, there has been intense speculation on the candidates after it was revealed that some of the old guards would be dropped in favour of new faces.

There was also talk that even Samy Vellu, 72, will not contest because of the pressure. But the MIC president yesterday laid this speculation to rest when he said this elections "may be" his last.

Rumours have also been circulating that Samy Vellu's former deputy turned political nemesis S Subramaniam will be included on the list.

However, nothing has been confirmed.

A party source said certain quarters have lobbied for Subramaniam's comeback which they felt could help assuage the disgruntlement of the Indian community to a certain extent in the wake of the Nov 25 rally organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

The source said these quarters, who were described as 'mutual friends', also approached the MIC president with the proposal.

Apart from this, he claimed that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his strategists - popularly referred to as the 'fourth floor' - were also receptive of the idea.

Subramaniam has also evaded the question on numerous occasions.

Season of miracles

Observers pointed out that under different circumstances it would have been a miracle for Samy Vellu to bring back his former estranged deputy into active politics.

However, they said the situation is different now and the MIC president is under tremendous pressure in terms of delivering the Indian votes for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).

Describing Subramaniam's comeback as an 'unlikely scenario', the observers also did not rule out the possibility of this being a season of miracles as far as MIC is concerned.

Since the emergence of the Hindraf wave, it has been anything but smooth sailing for MIC and its leaders.

Pundits have warned that the March 8 polls - which coincides with Samy Vellu's birthday - could prove to be the most crucial for the party and its president of 28 years.

Feedback from the ground indicate that there is a prevalent 'anti-MIC' sentiment and the Indian community, known as true-blue supporters of BN, is now prepared to turn its back on the ruling coalition.

President's call

Meanwhile, sources also pointed out that unlike other parties, where the decision on candidates is a collective one, in MIC, the president calls the shots.

In view of this, the party's incumbent candidates and aspiring hopefuls have been kept at the edge of their seats regarding their political future.

While some candidates have already received the much anticipated phone call from the president, others are still grappling with a question mark.

Yesterday, Samy Vellu dropped another strong hint that nothing has been finalised when he said that the list could be subjected to last minute changes.

Among the old guards expected to be dropped are vice-presidents KS Nijhar and S Veerasingam while the new faces tipped to make their electoral debut are party info chief M Saravanan and central working committee members T Mohan and S Murugesan.