No crisis in Malaysian Indian Congress, leaders tell PM

KUALA LUMPUR - There is no major crisis in the Malaysian Indian Congress, its senior leaders have assured Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak after a group of dissidents demanded that party chief S. Samy Vellu should retire early.

Human Resource Minister and MIC vice-president S. Subramaniam assured Razak, who heads the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) of which the MIC is a constituent, that the party “will emerge united, stronger and with greater energy to face the challenges ahead and to better serve the Indian community”.

Subramaniam Sunday issued a statement after Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expressed hope that the party would be able to resolve the problems triggered by the demand that party chief S. Samy Vellu bring forward his retirement.

MIC deputy Youth leader V. Mugilan and MIC central working committee (CWC) members K.P. Samy and G. Kumar Aman have demanded that Vellu should quit immediately.

Samy Vellu, who is heading the party since 1979, had last week announced that he would step down as party president “eight or nine months” before the expiry of his presidential term in May 2012.

Senior party leaders, including MIC deputy president G. Palanivel, defended Vellu’s retirement plan and urged the trio to respect his decision, Bernama, the official Malaysian news agency reported.

Another dissident, former MIC deputy president S. Subramaniam, has denied allegations that he was behind the latest call for Vellu to immediately step down.

He, however, shared the sentiment of a rebel group in the MIC that it was time for his former boss to relinquish the number one post, The Star reported.