MIC president G Palanivel has declined to be re-elected as a trustee of the party-controlled Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED), which held its annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.

In a brief statement, Palanivel, who became MIC president in December last year and recently appointed as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said he declined as he had too many responsibilities to handle - both as party president and minister.

“The MIED board meetings are very time-consuming. My job is to provide leadership to the party and community. I think I will concentrate on this,” he said.

Earlier, it was reported that at the MIED annual general meeting today, veteran politician  KS Nijhar had also declined to be re-elected as a trustee of MIED.

However, eight others, including former president and MIED chairperson S Samy Vellu were re-elected as trustees.

The others re-elected were MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam, vice-president M Saravanan, Perak MIC chairperson S Veerasingam, veteran politician G Vadiveloo, Negri Sembilan MIC chairperson T Rajagopalu, Johor MIC chairperson KS Balakrishnan and MIC education bureau chairperson M Marimuthu.

MIED, an education arm of MIC, was founded in the 1980s and currently owns the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) in Kedah.

- Bernama