"I suggest G Palanivel go see a doctor" - Saravanan

MIC vice-president, Datuk M. Saravanan today suggested that former party president Datuk Seri G Palanivel go see a doctor if he was unsatisfied with Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam being elected as the new party president.

He said, the majority of Indians in Malaysia had elected Dr Subramaniam as MIC President and no questions should be raised further.

“Firstly this is just a drama played by Palanivel. Secondly, Palanivel does not understand the MIC constitution which saw him lose his post.

“The MIC constitution states that if a member is unsatisfied with the way the MIC is managed, a complaint needs to be made at MIC first then if a solution is not found within 30 days, only then can a complaint be lodged at the Registrar of Societies (RoS),” he said when met after officiating the Federal Territories-level Tamil Schools’ Transformation programme at Universiti Malay today.

Asked to comment on allegations that 1,500 complaints had been made at the RoS after Subramaniam was made President, Saravanan stressed it was irrelevant.

“The total number of MIC branches recognised by the RoS stands at 2,844. From that number 2,700 had nominated Subramaniam and the rest, numbering 100 only, had not voted. So where did the 1,500 people come from?” he asked.

At the same time Saravanan said, Dr Subramaniam’s election as the new president is seen as a turning point for MIC.

“Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam’s leadership is seen as a new image for MIC in terms of political maturity especially in the way he handled internal problems,” he said.

Dr Subramaniam was chosen as the new MIC president after winning the post uncontested as nomination for the 2013-2016 term closed on Friday.

Dr Subramaniam who was former MIC deputy president since 2010 and later the acting MIC president, received 450 nominations from 2,700 of the 2,843 branches.

The party constitution stipulates that candidates contesting for the number one post must be the chairman of a branch and could garner 50 nominations, while each nomination must have a proposer and five seconders.

The Health Minister's victory however is expected to further fuel the crisis confronting the 68-year-old party as former party president Datuk Seri G.Palanivel on Aug 9 was also declared as party president in a nomination of candidates by his supporters.