Palanivel challenged to call for polls

PETALING JAYA: MIC leaders have rubbished the claim on Sunday by MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel that he had received support from almost 3,000 divisional party delegates.
"Elections are the best judge to determine Palanivel's statement," party vice-president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said when contacted by theSun today.
"The only thing I am concerned with is that if Palanivel is confident that he has enough support, he should proceed with the central working committee (CWC) meeting and facilitate the process related to fresh election. Do not make any assumptions with statistics on the support you have. Even I can claim that I have support from more than 3,000 divisional party delegates on my birthday," he said.
"I am very happy for Palanivel's support and in fact, I hope the luck will be on his side if what he says is true," he added.
Earlier, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Professor Dr. P. Ramasamy, when contacted by theSun, denied Palanivel's claim that Ramasamy, who criticised Palanivel's leadership once, also voiced his support for him through social media.
"Nothing ... I have never supported anything related to his presidential election," Ramasamy said.
Meanwhile, former MIC strategic director, Datuk Seri Vell Paari, lashed out at Palanivel's statement on his 66th birthday celebration held in MIC headquarters about 800,000 followers voicing their support through social media.
"If one refers to Palanivel's social media statistics, that would be an embarrassment for MIC. Now, Palanivel wants to discuss with the top leadership before calling for a CWC meeting to prepare for the fresh election whereas before this, he never intended to recognise the committee," Vell Paari added.
Differences of opinion had emerged in the MIC following an order on Dec 5 last year from the Registrar of Societies (RoS) for the party to hold fresh elections for the three posts of vice-president and 23 posts in the CWC within 90 days due to irregularities in the elections held at the party general assembly in Malacca on Nov 30, 2013.
On Feb 6, Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Home Ministry and RoS, being the bodies responsible for addressing the MIC crisis, directed the party to follow the instructions as stated in the Societies Act 1966 Section 3A to hold fresh elections for all office bearers.