The MIC's 54th general assembly starts tomorrow and there is a great danger that when the 1,800 delegates take to the ballot, the party's last dissenting voice might be obliterated for good.

A long line of "Yes" men and women are set to win in the elections and it will be a sad day for democracy in the MIC if the last dissenting voice among them is laid to rest.

Gadfly and perennial contender, former Negri Sembilan exco member and incumbent vice-president, M. Muthupalaniappan, is the sole serious outside challenger for one of the three vice-presidencies.

Not that Muthupalaniappan is a great champion of truth and fair play in his 15-year career as a MIC apparatchik. To survive, Muthupalaniappan has worn many different coats but the real plum post had passed him by all these years, turning him into a perpetual dissenter with a well-honed survival instinct.

In the last elections, delegates were given a choice and elected him but this time around, their arms are being twisted. They have been told to pick three vice-presidents chosen by party president S. Samy Vellu and among the trio is not Muthupalaniappan.

The fact is, Muthupalaniappan is the only dissenter now among all the contenders and therefore stands out for sympathy and support against a juggernaut line-up fielded by Samy for the three vice-presidencies and 23 vacancies in the Central Working Committee.

The other former "dissenter", deputy president S. Subramaniam, was returned unopposed. So was Samy Vellu as president, perhaps for life. Subramaniam has been silent for so long on so many crucial issues that the party rank and file find it difficult to see him anything but another "Yes" man in Samy Vellu's retinue.

It is clear that, this time around, Samy intends to wipe out all opposition and has been actively campaigning across the country to ensure that the "Yes" persons emerge victorious.

One veteran delegate from the Federal Territory MIC has this to say about the "Yes" men and women: "The only time they will ever open their mouths at CWC meetings is when the coffee and curry puffs are served."

The other challengers for the vice-president's posts are persons without stature.

Dr Leela Rama, one-term MP for Kapar who was dropped in the November general elections for failing to make an impact as a parliamentarian, is also running for vice-president along with one or two other ikan bilis.

Muthupalaniappan and others are facing incumbent vice president G. Palanivel and two new comers to the post - K. S. Nijhar and S. Veerasingam.

The three make a triumvirate and hug on to Samy as he toured the country. He urged delegates to vote for them. All three are Samy's men, of whom he said, "I can work with them."

Samy, not only openly but also unfairly endorsed them during closed door state level meetings with voters.

Challengers hang around like unwanted guests outside the meeting halls and seek to make a grab for a delegate's hand while Samy is looking the other way. Most often delegates avoid the challengers like the plague especially with a string of informers waiting to tell on delegates if they had a tte--tte with the challengers.

The outcome appears set. Fear and potential loss of patronage will force the majority of the delegates to vote for Samy's team. This method of campaigning has been tried and tested in previous elections and proven effective.

Besides, Samy Vellu has the advantage as president and ultimate "manager" of all and sundry at the general assembly - from the flower and seating arrangements to testing the loud speakers to announcing tea time breaks - to sell his team to the delegates right up to the start of balloting.

Being a natural-born dramatist, Samy Vellu will avoid campaigning directly but will narrate some stories or tell some jokes that carry crucial messages of promise, flattery and threats to voters to deliver his people.

Despite the stakes stacked against the challengers, especially Muthupalainiappan for the vice-president and a few veterans like K.P. Samy for the CWC, there is an outside chance that delegates might take a leaf from the recent Umno elections to vote in their few dissenters, if not for anything but just to spice up their boring party elections.

If Muthupalaniappan loses on Saturday, it will be a fatal blow to dissent in the MIC.

After that, the era of the "Yes" persons would truly begin.



K. BARADAN is a former journalist.