Thanenthiran urged to bow out gracefully
Athi ShankarPublished: Jan 22, 2010 3:51 AM | Updated: Jan 22, 2010 3:56 AM
Vathemurthy said Thanenthiran, the founding president, was sacked in accordance to the party constitution on Sunday by 14 out of 27 central committee members.
Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party (MMSP) deputy president A Vathemurthy has urged RS Thanenthiran to accept his expulsion from the party.
Vathemurthy said Thanenthiran, the founding president, was sacked in accordance to the party constitution on Sunday by 14 out of 27 central committee members.
"We have to get rid of him for the betterment of the party and the Indian community that the party represents. The overwhelming majority of party members are against his leadership.
"Political convention suggests that Thanenthiran should bow to the will of the people and step aside gracefully," he said.
Vathemurthy explained that Section 7.2 of the party constitution stipulates that the power to sack a member is vested with the central committee and not the president.
He added that the validity of Sunday's central committee meeting should not be challenged because the party constitution allows either the president or any four of the central committee members to convene it.
Thanenthiran strikes back
In the termination notice, Vathemurthy said party secretary-general R Kannan had specified that Thanenthiran had a week to appeal.
Thanenthiran responded to his 'sacking' on Wednesday by 'sacking' the 14 rival central committee members for tarnishing the party image and attempting to topple the party president.
He claimed that the decision was based on the group's failure to respond to his show-cause letters, dated Dec 31 last year.
To this, Vathemurthy said the group responded to Thanenthiran's show-cause letters by writing to Kannan, since Thanenthiran was in India at the time.
"He left the country without informing me or the secretary-general which is against political convention. Therefore we submitted our replies to Kannan who is the secretary-general," he said.
No power to sack us
In any event, Vathemurthy stressed that Thanenthiran (left) had no powers from Sunday onwards as he was no longer a MMSP party member.
He caimed that Thanenthiran had mismanaged the party, leading to abuse of power and an autocratic-style leadership that has caused factionalism in the party.
He also accused Thanenthiran of failing to reveal the accounts for the party's launch ceremony last October, which was attended by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"We could have rebelled against Thanenthiran even before the party launching but we did not want to embarrass the prime minister," he said.
He warned that MMSP would take "drastic action" against Thanenthiran should the latter continue to act as the party president.
Thanenthiran is formerly a Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader that was courted by Najib to lead a pro-Barisan Nasional Indian-based party.
Vathemurthy said Thanenthiran, the founding president, was sacked in accordance to the party constitution on Sunday by 14 out of 27 central committee members.
"We have to get rid of him for the betterment of the party and the Indian community that the party represents. The overwhelming majority of party members are against his leadership."Political convention suggests that Thanenthiran should bow to the will of the people and step aside gracefully," he said.
Vathemurthy explained that Section 7.2 of the party constitution stipulates that the power to sack a member is vested with the central committee and not the president.
He added that the validity of Sunday's central committee meeting should not be challenged because the party constitution allows either the president or any four of the central committee members to convene it.
Thanenthiran strikes back
In the termination notice, Vathemurthy said party secretary-general R Kannan had specified that Thanenthiran had a week to appeal.
Thanenthiran responded to his 'sacking' on Wednesday by 'sacking' the 14 rival central committee members for tarnishing the party image and attempting to topple the party president.
He claimed that the decision was based on the group's failure to respond to his show-cause letters, dated Dec 31 last year.
To this, Vathemurthy said the group responded to Thanenthiran's show-cause letters by writing to Kannan, since Thanenthiran was in India at the time.
"He left the country without informing me or the secretary-general which is against political convention. Therefore we submitted our replies to Kannan who is the secretary-general," he said.
No power to sack us
In any event, Vathemurthy stressed that Thanenthiran (left) had no powers from Sunday onwards as he was no longer a MMSP party member. He caimed that Thanenthiran had mismanaged the party, leading to abuse of power and an autocratic-style leadership that has caused factionalism in the party.
He also accused Thanenthiran of failing to reveal the accounts for the party's launch ceremony last October, which was attended by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"We could have rebelled against Thanenthiran even before the party launching but we did not want to embarrass the prime minister," he said.
He warned that MMSP would take "drastic action" against Thanenthiran should the latter continue to act as the party president.
Thanenthiran is formerly a Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader that was courted by Najib to lead a pro-Barisan Nasional Indian-based party.
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