Palanivel against BN proposal for secretariat to resolve MIC crisis

PUTRAJAYA: MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel yesterday expressed disagreement with a Barisan Nasional (BN) proposal to set up a secretariat to help solve the crisis in the party.

He said in a statement that the proposal, as announced by BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, was very disturbing.

Tengku Adnan told a news conference in Putrajaya earlier yesterday that a BN special secretariat had been proposed to be set up to help the crisis-plagued MIC to clean up its divisions and branches and hold fresh party elections.

“This is totally unacceptable. BN has no jurisdiction whatsoever to take over the administration or conduct of the party elections in direct contradiction to the provisions of the MIC Constitution as well as the Societies Act, 1966,” Palanivel said.

“Though MIC is a component party within BN, MIC is still a political party in its own right and governed by the party constitution. Barisan Nasional should respect the constitution of MIC and not invade the administration of MIC as proposed,” he said.

Palanivel said he could not attend the meeting with Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday as he had to rush his wife to hospital.

He said that despite informing his situation to Najib, his representative (MIC vice-president) Datuk S. Sothinathan was not allowed to attend the meeting.

“I, as the President of MIC, am not willing to let third parties (Barisan Nasional) to run our beloved party,” he said.

He said there were party constitutions and relevant by-laws to run the party and conduct party elections, and any other course of action as proposed would be illegal, null and void.

Palanivel also said that it was a mockery of the entire situation if Tan Sri K. Kumaran, who was the returning officer of the Election Committee 2013, was brought back to the current situation of the party.

He said the Registrar of Societies (RoS) could not question his powers as the duly elected MIC president, as his powers were enshrined i n the party constitution and could not be taken away by anyone, including the RoS.

Palanivel said he had instructed lawyers to file the necessary court papers to challenge the decision and act of the RoS, although the deadline for the RoS to withdraw all its directives would end today.

Meanwhile, MIC deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, in a statement, denied that there was any agreement to allow the BN to run the MIC in total as purported by what he described as the misleading statement of the BN secretary-general.

In detailing what transpired during the meeting with the BN chairman and secretary-general this morning, Dr Subramaniam said the meeting had affirmed that the party resolve its issue as per the directive of the RoS.

“The 32 elected members of the CWC 2009 shall form the interim CWC to facilitate the conduct of the re-elections, and no nominated member will be included in the interim CWC as per the RoS letter,” he said.

Dr Subramaniam explained that in matters of dispute, the BN secretariat shall act as facilitator, including in ensuring that letters of meetings were delivered to all 32 members of the CWC.

“As one of the leaders of MIC, I would like to assert while we might be having a difficult time, we will not compromise on the integrity and dignity of the party,” he said. – Bernama