MIC's rebranding comes under question

Former MIC central committee member KP Samy has turned the screw on party president S Samy Vellu by questioning the effectiveness of the party's rebranding exercise.

Samy, who enjoys massive grassroots support, was eager to know what were the "more tangible" changes implemented by Samy Vellu in his latest attempt to revive the support for the party.

In the aftermath of the party's disastrous showing in the March general election, Samy Vellu immediately launched a massive rebranding exercise of the party's ideologies to revive its political relevance in the country and among the Indian community.

For starters, he allocated a RM500,000 budget on new uniforms, logos and letterheads.

The interiors of the party's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur had also been changed to have a more professional look.

The party president outlined his rebranding modules during the party's annual general assembly in July and has been going around the nation implementing the changes.

However businessman Samy, a close associate of former party deputy S Subramaniam, was not convinced by the rebranding exercise.

"What have they done so far? It's all cosmetic. What tangible steps have they taken to bring back the deserting supporters?" he asked.

Bring back those who left

Talking to Malaysiakini recently, Samy ( left ) said that the party leadership helmed by Samy Vellu was still not doing the necessary things to revive the party.

For starters, he said, Samy Vellu was still being silent in bringing back all MIC members who had left the party disillusioned over the years.

"There are thousands of ex-party members out there waiting to come back into the fold to help the party. They left either because of differences with Samy Vellu or due to being sacked by him for supporting his rivals.

"It is time now for Samy Vellu to cast aside his ego and bring back these hardworking members back into the fold," said Samy.

He said that instead of going around the country talking about the need for a new party logo and uniform, the party president should instead organise meetings to welcome old and new members into the party.

"He should explain how the party can become relevant again, on how the party can help the community. He must embrace all the supporters of his rivals for the sake of the party. He must not sideline them," added Samy.

Samy added that that it was also timely for the party leadership to revive all suspended branches if the party was serious about rebranding.

"The party cannot afford to continue to sideline branches and members who are willing to work to make the party effective again," he added.

Samy's own branch in Shah Bandar, Klang, is one of many that has been suspended by the party. In Samy's case, the reason was because of his undivided support for Subramaniam, who was Samy Vellu's bitter rival for the presidency post.

Tangible and effective changes needed

However after the March 8 general election, Samy Vellu and Subramaniam have patched up their differences. This however does not mean people like Samy are immediately embraced back into the party hierarchy instantly.

"I am still waiting for my branch and so many other branches to be reinstated again. I have written a letter to the party president and secretary general. I know Subramaniam has spoken to Samy Vellu about this. But nothing has been done," lamented Samy.

"The inordinate delay in reinstating these branches and allowing back people like me into the party raises a huge question on the effectiveness of the party's rebranding exercise," he said.

He said more tangible and effective changes were needed in the party urgently if it still wanted to remain relevant. He added that democracy must be allowed to take root in the party as well.

"That is why I say that there must be a contest for the president's post. This will keep the president - either the incumbent or a new one - on his toes...but the nomination and election process must be clean and fair," he said.

For this to happen, he urged Samy Vellu to start his rebranding exercise by reinstating all suspended branches - almost all of them are from his opposition's camp.

Samy Vellu, at helm of the party for almost three decades, has long been accused of controlling the branches to make it difficult for anyone to pose a challenge.

A potential challenger must obtain 50 nominations, with each nomination having a proposer and five seconders. And the proposer and seconders must be branch chairpersons.

The party president is then elected by branch chairpersons, standing at about 3,200 at the moment. As for the other posts, they are elected by about 1,400 delegates at the party general assembly.

The post of the president was originally to be contested next March but it looks like it will be pushed to May now. Elections for all other party posts are in September.

Challenger says he will welcome all

In a related development, former vice-president M Muthupalaniappan ( left ) who is challenging Samy Vellu for the president's post, said that he would openly welcome all former members into the party if he was elected.

He said - as quoted in Tamil daily Malaysia Nanban today - that this would only strengthen the party and will give it a stronger voice in representing the community.

He also welcomed the idea of other Indian-based political parties such as Indian Progressive Front and the Malaysian Indian United Party, joining the MIC.

In this regard, Samy Vellu has been non-committal in forging a merger with the other parties.

Meanwhile, several party insiders said that the rebranding exercise was a good move for the party.

"Give it some time. Give the president some time. Things will fall in place and we will see our supporters coming back to us," said a central leader.