MIC crisis could be resolved if party leadership follows BN advice, says Subramaniam

KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC crisis could have been resolved if party president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel had acted on the advice of Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership, said deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.
He said BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had met Palanivel and himself three times to find a solution to the long-standing crisis.
"There is intense lack of concern, and lack of decision, lack of wanting to solve this problem well. That is why we thought there is really a leadership crisis and leadership issue in handling this problem.
"The prime minister attempted to give advice many times and the advice is very simple — follow the RoS (Registrar of Society) consistently.
"I suppose when people have given advice to you many times and when people don't follow it then it's possible he (Najib) just say 'Okay, you do the things the way you all want and let the action take its course'," he said at the media briefing on MIC crisis here, today.
Dr Subramaniam said MIC had lost many opportunities now as the party's problem could have been solved in an easier way if Palanivel had adhered to the Registrar of Societies' (RoS) directive.
"This is actually a sad story of missed opportunity. We would have solved it earlier but we lost many chances because of so many issues.
"It has become very difficult now. It was easier if it (re-election) was done before", he said at a media briefing here, today.
The MIC crisis arose due to differences in views after the RoS declared the election of the three vice-president posts and 23 Central Working Committee (CWC) posts at the party's general assembly in Malacca in November 2013 null and void.
Dr Subramaniam said in a bid to save the party from further crisis, the interim Central Working Committee (CWC) 2009 had started to lay the ground work for the party's re-election as advised by the RoS on Feb 6.
In a letter dated Dec 5, 2014, the RoS ordered the MIC to call for a fresh election for the posts within 90 days.
Dr Subramaniam, who is also Health Minister, said because of the missed opportunity, the party now had to hold a total election for all posts.
The conflict within the party worsened after Palanivel requested the RoS to withdraw all its letters last Feb 14, as they allegedly contravened the party constitution and Societies Act and threatened to take legal action if the RoS did not comply.
Subsequently on Feb 23, MIC CWC member K. Ramalingam submitted an application for a judicial review against the action and statement made by the RoS and its director-general.
On Feb 9, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the Registrar of Societies (RoS), which came under the jurisdiction of his ministry, had agreed that the MIC held re-elections for all posts between April and July this year to avoid being de-registered. – Bernama