PETALING JAYA: The Registrar of Societies (RoS) is expected to make an announcement later this week calling for the MIC to hold fresh elections, said leaders who have questioned the party polls last year.

Party president Datuk Seri G Palanivel’s camp is said to be strategising a face-saving gesture in time for the impending announcement following numerous complaints about the irregularities in the elections.

The RoS is believed to have come to this decision after finding that there were many irregularities in the polls that took place on Nov 30, 2013.

Former MIC Youth chief Datuk T Mohan, who leads a group calling for the re-election, said the decision was long overdue as complaints to the RoS were made beginning from last December.

“I hope there is no pressure or interference from anyone at this critical point,” he said, adding that if RoS fails to make an announcent by this week, the movement would seek an appointment with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“The PM is our last hope for the party. We have tried all possible ways to address the [election] issues but to no avail. I hope the PM can help us restore the people’s confidence in the party,” Mohan said.

Mohan said it has been over a month since some 3,000 MIC members gathered in Putrajaya calling for a re-election but not much progress has been made on their concerns.

“The busloads of people who came were hoping it will be the catalyst for much needed change in the party but most are now feeling disenchanted,” said Mohan.

He strongly believes a decision has been made for a re-election but the only question is how extensive the exercise would be.

“Will it be re-election for all positions or just for the central working committee and certain divisions? We just have to wait and see,” he said.

Another leader in the movement Senator Datuk SA Vigneswaran also questioned why the RoS is taking so long to come to a decision.

“We keep hearing they have finished their investigations and the final decision will be made by the Minister. But we are not getting anything official from them!

“Why is it so difficult to make a decision on such an explicit matter?” he asked, referring to allegations of vote manipulation and other irregularities.

“They were quick to act on DAP on a small issue but so slow on a clear and major breach,” he said, referring to the RoS’ decision not to recognise the DAP’s central executive committee election of September 2013.

Vigneswaran added that the movement would also seek legal advice on their next move.

Mohan, however, lamented that the call for a re-election has morphed into a push against Palanivel.

The opposition to Palanivel gathered steam following the Cameron Highlands mudslide recently.

The party president is the member of parliament for the constituency and is the natural resources and environment minister.

His response to the incident and the answer he gave in Parliament on the disaster has met with much negativity, which has gone viral on social media.

The Pahang Sultan’s rebuke over the official handling of the disaster has also led to a perception that the push against Palanivel now seems to have gained support from outside the party.

The movement’s Selangor coordinator Datuk RS Maniam said the time is ripe for a rejuvenation of the party and welcomed the expected RoS’ decision.

“We have heard this many times and hopefully it’s true this time. The party can only move forward if there is a re-election,” he said.

Maniam said the party seems to have ground to a standstill lately and only the Youth and Wanita movements, and the New Affirmative Action Movement (NAAM), an initiative of MIC vice-president M Saravanan to involve Indian youths in agriculture, seem to be the saving grace.

“What we now have is a golden opportunity to attract Indians back to the MIC. The confidence levels among the opposition parties seem to have dipped lower than ever before due to their internal crisis.

“To attract disillusioned Indians back into the BN fold, we need to show that we are a better alternative. But when we have a party poll that is full of irregularities, it is impossible,” said Maniam, who lost his Kota Raja division chief post to S Sandiranshegran, who is said to be a bankrupt. The new division chief has refuted this claim.

“We are in a quandary now. The grassroots and the leadership seem to be disconnected,” said Maniam.

He believes the leadership’s reluctance to have a re-election could stem from lethargy.

“Some may feel tired to go around campaigning all over again — going from state to state, the expenses involved and at the same time not being assured of victory again. Only those who lost in the polls will have the energy and drive to go through it again,” said Maniam.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 1, 2014.