I will not accept ministerial post through senatorship, says Samy

will not accept ministerial post through senatorship, says Samy
By BERNAMA

12 March, 2008

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said today he would not accept a senatorship as he did not want a backdoor entry into the Parliament. “I don’t want to become a senator...I don’t want to be a minister through a senatorship...that is not my intention. The voters of Sungai Siput have decided and I accept that decision, and I don’t want to be a senator...not me, maybe others,” he said.

The MIC suffered a huge defeat in the just concluded election with the defeat of all party top leaders. Samy Vellu lost in Sungai Siput, deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel (Hulu Selangor), vice president Datuk S.Sothinathan (Teluk Kemang), Youth chief S.A. Vigneswaran (Kota Raja) and Wanita Chief Datuk Paduka K. Komaladevi (Kapar). The other two vice presidents Datuk S.Veerasingham lost the Perak state assembly seat in Sungkai while Tan Sri K.S.Nijhar did not contest.

With the defeat, the party is left with three Members of Parliament, out of the nine parliamentary seats contested. They are secretary-general Datuk Dr S.Subramaniam (Segamat), MIC information chief Datuk M. Saravanan (Tapah) and S.K. Devamany (Cameron Highlands).

The MIC chief, speaking at a packed press conference after the party central working committee meeting at the MIC headquarters, said that he would now focus on rebuilding the MIC and winning the trust of the Malaysian Indian community.

Samy Vellu said he still had a role to play in MIC as he “knew the community for the last 42 years” and the main task would be to attract the youths in the 1.8 million Malaysian Indian community who were below 30-years of age.

Asked if the results of the polls were an indication that the MIC had lost support among grassroots, he said it was not only the MIC that failed but also all other component parties including Umno, MCA and Gerakan.

“But I feel this is normal...the people had voted for us for a long time and then when some people come along and say that they can preform better, the voters just opted to give an opportunity for them to show what they can do,” he added.

“But let me warn them that Malaysian politics is very different. The people have placed high expectations on those they voted in and these expectations must be met.”

Asked about MIC’s representation in the government, he said that would be left to the discretion of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chief.

He said the party had three elected MPs and they would be given government positions.

The MIC has been alloted one ministerial position, three deputy ministers and three parliamentary secretary posts and with only three elected MPs, it is likely to forgo several government positions.

“We have sent him (Abdullah) the names but it is all definitely the prerogative of the Prime Minister. We have listed the positions (in the government) according to party seniority,” Samy Vellu said.

Going by seniority, then Subramaniam would get a Ministerial post with Saravanan and Devamany landing deputy ministerial posts.